The National Agency for the Prohibition of Trafficking in Persons (NAPTIP) has received 231 Nigerians repatriated from Ghana, among them 27 individuals identified as suspected traffickers.
The returnees were handed over to NAPTIP and the Nigerians in Diaspora Commission (NiDCOM) by the Government of Ghana through the Economic and Organised Crime Office (EOCO). Their return follows a major operation that dismantled a human trafficking and cybercrime syndicate operating from a gated estate in Ghana.
Among those repatriated on the evening of Thursday, April 24, four women were identified as victims of human trafficking. The rest were young Nigerian men, some of whom were reportedly held captive for years and forced to engage in cyber fraud.
Speaking at the handover ceremony held at NAPTIP’s office in Ikeja, EOCO official Dominic Mensah said the crackdown—code-named “Operation Rescue Shield”—was launched after authorities received a tip-off about suspicious activities in 26 houses within one estate.
Staff Officer Dominic Meza of EOCO’s Anti-Human Trafficking Unit stated: “We received a report on March 28 from an informant who alleged that a group of Nigerians were exploiting young people for cybercrime. Surveillance was conducted, and with support from national security and police, we carried out the operation at 3:30 a.m. one week ago, resulting in the arrest of 233 individuals.”
Meza further explained that the victims had been lured to Ghana with promises of job opportunities but were later trapped and coerced into cybercrime. Many had spent several weeks to even years in captivity.
