LAGOS JUNE 4TH (NEWSRANGERS)-BENJAMIN SAMSON in this report examines how several Nigerian youths are trafficked to Ghana and are forced into internet fraud and the trend which has already spread to other West African countries can be halted.
The Ghanaian government recently handed over 231 Nigerian youths rescued from an alleged human trafficking and cybercrime ring to Nigerian authorities.
Speaking at the hand-over ceremony in Lagos, the Chairman, the Nigerians in Diaspora Commission (NiDCOM), Abike Dabiri-Erewa, confirmed that the victims, mostly young men and women, were trafficked into Ghana under false pretences and used for cyber fraud.
Dabiri-Erewa emphasised the need for state governments to support their indigenes upon return.
“The largest number from this particular group is from Edo state, 76 individuals. Others come from states like Anambra (6), Delta (17), Bayelsa (13), Imo (19), Enugu (12), Ebonyi (8), Cross River (7), Abia (9), Niger (4), Akwa Ibom (3), Kogi (6), Ondo (1), and Osun (1). We appeal to the state governors to work with NAPTIP to aid these victims, noting that 12 of them are minors.”
Speaking with this reporter, an investigator with the National Agency for the Prohibition of Trafficking in Persons (NAPTIP), Usman Nanleh, said young Nigerians are also being trafficked to Liberia, Sierra Leone and other West African countries for internet fraud.
He said, “Nigerian boys are now being trafficked to Ghana, Liberia and Sierra Leone and forced into internet fraud. Traffickers lock them in a room, seize their passports and properties, and give them a crash course on internet fraud otherwise known as Yahoo Yahoo and they are given daily targets to meet.
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