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.