THE Federal Government has announced that at least 231 young Nigerians who were trafficked to Ghana are expected to return to Lagos Today.
In a statement issued on Thursday, April 24, the Minister of State for Foreign Affairs, Bianca Odumegwu-Ojukwu, said the development followed the rescue of 219 young Nigerians from a human trafficking syndicate that had coerced them into cybercrime activities by the Ghanaian authorities..
It highlighted that the victims were discovered after they were confined in about 25 rooms within a residential estate in Accra, Ghana’s capital.
During a visit to the Economic and Organised Crime Office (EOCO) in Accra, Odumegwu-Ojukwu expressed Nigeria’s gratitude for the rescue operation and lauded the EOCO operatives for their professionalism and compassionate treatment of the victims.
“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” she said
The Executive Director of EOCO, Bashiru Dapilah, explained that his agency launched the operation after acting on credible intelligence that led to uncovering the trafficking network.
He confirmed that several Ghanaians were part of the network, including the owner of the estate where the youths were kept.
The house owner has been arrested and will be prosecuted.
ICIR reports that some of the victims were subjected to abuse, with visible injuries, and one individual sustained broken legs after allegedly failing to turn over proceeds from the illicit activities.
Odumegwu-Ojukwu, who described the ordeal as a form of modern-day slavery, cautioned Nigerian youths against being lured by fake job offers abroad
