The Federal Government has announced that “no fewer than 231 young Nigerians” trafficked to Ghana are “expected to arrive in Lagos on Friday,” where they will be received by government officials.
The development followed the recent rescue of 219 victims by Ghanaian authorities from a human trafficking ring that forced them into cybercrime operations.
The victims, mostly young men, were discovered confined in about 25 rooms within a residential estate in Accra.
During a visit to the Economic and Organised Crime Office in Accra, Minister of State for Foreign Affairs, Ambassador Bianca Odumegwu-Ojukwu, expressed Nigeria’s appreciation for the rescue effort.
In a statement released by her media aide, Magnus Eze, on Thursday, she commended the professionalism of the EOCO operatives and their humane handling of the rescued individuals.
Odumegwu-Ojukwu revealed that the Nigerian High Commission in Ghana had alerted local authorities to the disturbing situation last week.
Some were reportedly abused, with visible injuries, and one individual suffered broken legs after allegedly failing to remit illicit earnings.
Describing the ordeal as a form of modern slavery, Odumegwu-Ojukwu warned Nigerian youths against falling for false job offers abroad, which she said are often fronts for human trafficking schemes.
The Minister stressed that FG remains committed to addressing youth unemployment through skill acquisition programs.
She encouraged the rescued individuals to embrace the opportunity to rebuild their lives and engage with various federal intervention schemes upon their return.
“Count yourselves lucky, as next time, it may not be a benevolent country like Ghana. It may not be a circumstance within a location where we have excellent bilateral relations.
“There are countries that take cybercrimes very seriously, and by the time they lock you up, they will throw away the key. We are still trying to this day to ensure that Ethiopia signs our exchange or transfer of sentenced persons MoU so that we can bring those nationals who are trapped in their prisons back to Nigeria. So we don’t lose even more of them.
“We are happy that this commission has excellent relations with NAPTIP, and they have been kind enough. I was really humbled when the Executive Director said their interest is not for these young men to get back to Nigeria into the prison system, because that’s what usually happens.
“Under that situation, they are obliged to hand you over to law enforcement, correctional facilities in Nigeria and then you know what will happen. It’s another cycle of your relatives coming to prison to bring you food,” Odumegwu-Ojukwu said.
Highlighting Nigeria’s foreign policy under President Bola Tinubu, she said citizen-centered diplomacy is a core pillar of the administration’s approach. She further assured Ghana of Nigeria’s continued cooperation in fighting organised crime.
“So, when you get home, give the government the opportunity to equip you with skills.
“I am also using this opportunity to commend other Nigerians who are industrious, hardworking, and law-abiding in Ghana.
“I can assure you that Ghana will have the support and cooperation of the Nigerian Government in the fight against organised crime.
“It’s something that our own Economic and Financial Crimes Commission will want to be part of to ensure that we are not seen as headquarters of economic crimes,” she admonished.
The Executive Director of EOCO, Bashiru Dapilah, detailed how his agency acted on intelligence to uncover the trafficking operation.
He confirmed that Ghanaians involved in the crime, including the estate owner where the youths were housed, have been arrested and will face prosecution.
“We are not looking at this as a Nigerian crime because you have some backing from the Ghanaian. The estate where they lived, we arrested the owner, and he will be prosecuted.
“We require collaboration between our two countries. The crime is committed here in Ghana, but we know that somebody in Nigeria was behind it. So, these persons have been rescued but the next thing is the collaboration to ensure that the perpetrators are apprehended.
“As you go home, take the message to our counterpart in Nigeria that we will be needing collaboration to to roundup the perpetrators,” he said.
Dapilah stressed the need for cross-border collaboration, noting that while the crime occurred in Ghana, it had links to individuals in Nigeria. He called for stronger cooperation between both nations to bring the perpetrators to justice