The Nigeria Police Force has rescued 46 victims of human trafficking and arrested seven suspects following two coordinated operations targeting cross-border trafficking and cybercrime syndicates.
The operations, carried out by operatives of INTERPOL National Central Bureau, NCB, Abuja, were launched after a distress alert from INTERPOL NCB Accra, Ghana.
Investigations revealed that the victims, mostly Ghanaian nationals, were lured to Nigeria under false promises of employment in Europe, only to be coerced into online fraud activities linked to the QNET network.
Police said one of the victims, Samuel Dankwah Opoku, paid GHC 30,000 to a Ghanaian named Attah Amankwaah, believed to be a key member of the network in Nigeria. Opoku and others were confined and forced into exploitative internet marketing schemes upon arrival.
Following intelligence, police raided the group’s base, arrested six suspects, including Amankwaah, and recovered evidence related to the syndicate’s operations.
Thirty-one victims were rescued and handed over to the Ghana High Commission in Abuja for repatriation.
In a separate case, INTERPOL received another report on June 17 involving four Ghanaian nationals trafficked to Nigeria by a 39-year-old woman, Achiaa Grace Afrifa. She allegedly defrauded her victims of GHC 126,000 under the pretense of securing foreign jobs.
Afrifa was arrested the following day at a residence in Uyo, Akwa Ibom State, where 15 more victims were found and rescued.
The seven suspects from both operations remain in custody and will be charged after investigations are completed.
Inspector-General of Police, Kayode Egbetokun, commended the swift collaboration between Nigerian authorities and their Ghanaian counterparts and reaffirmed the Force’s commitment to dismantling trafficking networks and protecting vulnerable persons from exploitation.
