Ghanaian police report the rescue of 76 Ghanaians trafficked to Nigeria through a fraudulent recruitment scheme. Most of the victims, primarily young men, were deceived with false promises of football contracts.

Accra

Ghanaian authorities have rescued 76 nationals who were trafficked to Nigeria under the guise of lucrative football contracts and job offers abroad. Upon arrival, the victims were confined in overcrowded hotels and coerced to contact their families for money, purportedly for training and facilitation fees.

Police have arrested seven individuals in connection with the crime. The scheme reportedly involved searching victims' phones for additional contacts to solicit further funds. Officials note a rise in such cases in West Africa, with human rights advocates attributing the trend to high youth unemployment. The Ghanaian government is working to raise awareness to prevent further incidents.

76 Ghanaians rescued from trafficking scam in Nigeria

According to the Ghana Police Service, these victims were lured with contracts into elite football teams in Europe, jobs in overseas countries and visa assistance. Once they arrived in Nigeria, they were then forced into overcrowded hotel rooms and asked to call their family members back in Ghana to send them monies ranging up to about $1,000 to be used for training and facilitation. This scheme also involved their perpetrators going through their phones to search for contacts of their friends and loved ones who they then asked to send them monies for their release. The head of Ghana's Criminal Investigations Department, Yako Donkor, told journalists in Accra that seven persons have now been arrested in connection with this particular crime. Victims are typically instructed to travel, usually by road, to an unfamiliar country. Ghanaians are sent to foreign countries, while foreigners are brought to Ghana. Upon arrival, a city gate member meets them and lodges them in a hotel, demanding an initial training and facilitation fee ranging from $800,000 to $2 million safer for Francophone victims or $1,000 or above for Ghanaians. The police says there's been a sharp rise in the number of persons that have been reported by Interpol as having been missing through the activities of QNET within the West African sub-region. Human rights campaigners have blamed the situation on the lack of jobs for many young people in countries like Ghana. Ghana's government says it is increasing awareness to prevent other young people from falling for the scam.

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Kyiv

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Gilimanuk

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