Inside Burkina Faso, Ghana criminal networks where desperate Nigerian migrants disappear (1)
Across several African countries, a growing criminal syndicate is preying on desperate green pasture seekers, luring them to Burkina Faso, Ghana, Senegal and Côte d’Ivoire, among others, with promises of employment and a better life. Instead, many of these agile young Nigerians are stripped of their freedom, crammed into flats and coerced into cross-border internet fraud, while the girls are pushed into prostitution. In this investigation, CHIJIOKE IREMEKA exposes the shadowy trans-border job fraudsters and human traffickers, revealing how promises of opportunity are systematically turned into tools of exploitation
“The trust of the innocent is the liar’s most useful tool,” a maxim often attributed to Stephen King, resonates painfully in Fidelix’s story.
The 33-year-old became a victim of a cross-border job scam after trusting a longtime friend, Favour.
His ordeal exposes the shadowy operations of crime syndicates across Nigeria, Burkina Faso, Ghana, Senegal, and the Ivory Coast, preying on the trust and desperation of young people hoodwinked with the promise of well-paid employment abroad.
True to the saying, the 33-year-old believed his longtime friend was helping him secure a better life. Instead, she exploited Fidelix’s trust to secure her husband’s release, who was trapped in Burkina Faso.
Favour exploited his hope, defrauding, manipulating, and ultimately imprisoning him in a foreign land.
Fidelix’s aspiration to escape the poverty that had long defined his family became the very vulnerability they used against him.
“The first thing they took from me was my phone and laptop. By the time I realised this was not a job opportunity but a trap, I was standing in a crowded flat in Gaoua, Burkina Faso, surrounded by over 28 Nigerian men sleeping on bare floors,” he recalled.
Fidelix noted that their emaciated bodies told stories of chronic hunger and hopes long extinguished.
Entrapment
When Fidelix boarded the vehicle bound for Burkina Faso, he believed he was taking his first step toward a legitimate job and a brighter future in Europe.
Instead, he plunged headlong into a shadowy criminal network engineered to entrap young Nigerians, strip them of their savings, and coerce them into recruiting others.
Born in Imo State, he had long nurtured dreams of studying and working abroad. Armed with a passport, a modest stash of savings, and an unwavering trust in the wrong people, he embarked on his journey, oblivious that his path to Burkina Faso would nearly make him another victim of a ruthless cross-border scam that thrived on desperation.
His escape was at once accidental and miraculous, a narrow reprieve that stands in stark contrast to the countless others still trapped.
“I wanted to travel abroad to study and work, but I didn’t understand the process. I asked questions. I listened to people I trusted. One of them was a friend, Favour, who said her husband had successfully ‘crossed’ into Burkina Faso and was preparing to move on to the UK,” Fidelix recounted.
Favour assured him that Europe was easier to access from Burkina Faso, where her brother, Benjamin, allegedly managed travel arrangements.
“I insisted on speaking with this supposedly helpful brother. He sounded convincing, telling me I would work briefly in a company before moving to the UK. He even sent pictures of offices and promised an $800 salary. I sent my credentials. After reviewing them, he congratulated me, saying I had the job. I had no idea it was a setup, and I fell for it,” he said.
I walked into my misfortune
Buoyed by hope, Fidelix set off for Burkina Faso, unaware he was stepping into a den of rogues disguised as professionals.
“Benjamin gave me directions and asked me to call him when I reached Ouagadougou. I did, and he told me to come to Gaoua. When I arrived, someone picked me up and led me to a small flat packed with over 28 Nigerian men. Every inch of the floor was occupied. Their bodies were thin, clothes worn, faces tired. These weren’t workers waiting for travel papers, they were survivors,” he said.
Though the men greeted him with forced celebration, fear gripped him.
“The first thing they did was take my phone and laptop. When I protested and threatened to involve the police, they returned them. I was told work would begin the next day. That ‘work’ turned out to be the real trap,” he said.
At the so-called office, Chibuike, a group leader from Mbaise, Imo State, explained the business. Fidelix quickly realised it was nothing like the company he had been shown in pictures.
There were no contracts, no travel arrangements. Instead, they were selling products and recruiting people into a network scheme.
“They said I had to bring the N1,000,000 I had, converted to CFA, as registration for my own products. I refused, saying that wasn’t our agreement. No one had mentioned that I would need to buy products, recruit people, or fund my survival. That’s when the truth hit me: the money from new arrivals ran the syndicate and kept the trapped men alive. To survive, I had to bring two people from Nigeria, and only from their payments would I earn anything. That was my so-called job,” he said.
Violence and escape
When Fidelix resisted, violence followed.
He said, “I fought with Chibuike and the other leaders. The room descended into chaos. In the confusion, I slipped outside. Another victim quietly urged me to run and never give them my money. I even helped a stranded man with some of what I had and fled. I boarded a bus back to Ouagadougou, where I met another Nigerian, robbed and stripped of everything. The man kept saying, ‘This is not what they told me.’”
With the little money remaining, they escaped together, through Togo and into Benin, sometimes by bus, sometimes by motorcycle, until he finally made it to Nigeria.
“They injured me and took my phone, but not my money, and that saved my life. Those in the overcrowded flat weren’t criminals by choice; they were victims turned recruiters, trapped in a system where survival depends on destroying someone else’s dream,” he said.
“If my money had been taken, I’d still be stranded there, while my name would be used to deceive others. That’s why I am speaking now. There is no job in Burkina Faso. No company is processing papers. No easy route to Europe. Only lies disguised as opportunity, with young men slowly disappearing into it,” he warned.
‘I’d be paid $100 if I brought two Nigerians’
In another case, Israel, 29, narrowly escaped a criminal syndicate. A Facebook post led to contact with an old friend, who rekindled memories before steering him into a scam.
“I made a post, and an old friend reached out. He asked what I was doing for a living. I said I worked as a sales representative earning N70,000 monthly. He said the pay was manageable but that in Burkina Faso, a sales rep earned $250 monthly. When converted to naira, it sounded attractive. He told me they were recruiting sales reps and asked me to apply. I didn’t have a passport, but he assured me the process would be fast,” Israel said.
“When it was ready, I asked if I should fly. He said no, that flying was expensive, and advised road travel. I didn’t know he was being careful, so I wouldn’t spend the money they would collect on the flight,” he said.
Despite his mother’s strong objections, Israel insisted. “I trusted my friend because we were schoolmates, and I was tired of struggling in Nigeria. Reluctantly, she allowed me to go. I gathered all my savings, about N800,000, packed my bags, and left.”
The journey was perilous. Passing through Mile 2, taking a boat to the Benin Republic, and travelling overland with multiple stops, he paid off security operatives who repeatedly demanded money. Eventually, he arrived in Burkina Faso.
A fellow Nigerian welcomed him warmly, taking him to a restaurant and asking him to send photos to reassure his mother. Though she was relieved, unease lingered.
“The next day, they said we were going to the office. Instead, we arrived at a small apartment with several people sitting. I was told they were colleagues leaving for their tasks. I waited for the manager, who spoke only French. Another Nigerian had to interpret. The manager promised I would make a lot of money if I followed the rules,” he said.
“He said they would handle my documents, visa, and other papers, initially promising a salary of $250. Then it became $500. Suddenly, he said I would soon be making millions. That was when he told me I had to pay N500,000 for registration and documentation. I questioned why I should pay to get a job, but my friend insisted it was for official papers and possible international assignments.
“Trusting him, I agreed. Out of the N800,000 I had saved, I had N600,000 left. He collected N500,000 and told me to keep N100,000 for emergencies. That night, I was taken to another apartment,” he recalled.
When he entered, he saw many Nigerian boys, mostly of Igbo origin, singing and celebrating. He did not understand the reason for their joy, even after being told they were simply happy to be working.
The following day, he was introduced to the nature of the job he was expected to do.
“There were no physical products. I was told to bring two people from Nigeria, each paying N500,000, just as I had. If I succeeded, I would earn $100. I asked myself: what would I tell the people that I succeed in bringing? That I brought them to suffer? I refused. That was when I realised I had been scammed, and worse, that they wanted to turn me into a recruiter of victims.
“Many in that place were already trapped. Some had no money to return home. Others were still scheming to deceive their families. Those who failed to recruit were stuck. I knew I had no future there. With the little money I had left, I escaped by joining a truck. It was extremely difficult, but by God’s grace, I made it back. Today, I am back to square one. I have lost everything on that trip, but I am alive,” he said.
He warned Nigerian youths to be cautious and discerning about whom they trust abroad.
“I want to warn Nigerians, especially young men: if anyone tells you to come to Burkina Faso, Ghana, or any of these African countries for a job, be very careful. What awaits many is not employment, but slavery, fraud, and criminal syndicates funded by victims’ money,” he said.
Israel also called on the Nigerian government and security agencies to intervene. “Nigerians are suffering there, trapped and exploited financially, and for women, sexually as well,” he added.
A growing cross-border job scam
Cities such as Gaoua in Burkina Faso, as well as parts of Ghana, the Ivory Coast, and Senegal, have become notorious hubs for trans-border job scams that exploit the desperation of young Nigerians.
While criminal syndicates operate across this corridor, Gaoua has emerged as a particularly dangerous theatre of this crime.
Gaoua, a culturally rich city in southwestern Burkina Faso, is the capital of Poni Province and the heartland of the Lobi people, known for their woodcarving and unique traditions.
Situated in a savannah dotted with hills and streams, it is also home to the Lobi and Birifor ethnic groups, offering insight into traditional life near the Ghanaian border.
The city hosts Gaoua Airport and serves as an administrative and cultural hub for the region.
Saturday PUNCH’s investigation revealed that the city’s proximity to Ghana also makes the neighbouring country a hotspot for human trafficking, prostitution, forced labour, job scams, and financial exploitation.
According to the International Organisation for Migration, human trafficking is “the buying and selling of men, women, and children within countries and across borders to exploit them for profit through deceptive or threatening means, for purposes including sexual exploitation, forced labour, forced begging, illegal adoption, organ removal, and forced marriage.”
The IOM’s Migration Research Series, Migration, Human Smuggling and Trafficking from Nigeria to Europe, notes that although women increasingly understand that offers of work in Europe may involve sex work, they remain largely unaware of the circumstances that await them.
Most incur debts ranging from US$40,000 to $100,000 to traffickers in their attempt to reach Europe.
Furthermore, the United Nations Protocol against Trafficking in Persons (Palermo Protocol), Article 3(a), defines exploitation to include “at a minimum, the exploitation of the prostitution of others or other forms of sexual exploitation, forced labour or services, slavery or practices similar to slavery, servitude, or removal of organs.”
The International Labour Organisation Convention 29 on Compulsory Labour (1930) defines forced labour as “all work or service exacted from any person under the menace of any penalty and for which the said person has not offered himself voluntarily.”
Daily, vibrant Nigerian youths fall prey to criminal syndicates in Burkina Faso, Ghana, and the Ivory Coast, driven by a desperate desire to migrate for a better life, while the government does little to intervene.
Victims report that syndicates lure unemployed and underemployed youth with fake offices, staged videos, forged documents, and promises of jobs or European visas.
Once in Burkina Faso, they are stripped of savings and forced to recruit others from Nigeria to survive.
“In Ghana, some compromised police officers even collude with traffickers to deport victims after financially ruining them. Nigerians face daily exploitation by these criminal elements,” Fidelix said.
A global dimension
A 2025 INTERPOL crime trend update shows that online scam centres, initially concentrated in Southeast Asia, have expanded globally.
Victims from 66 countries have been trafficked into these centres, with a notable and growing number originating from Africa. Hundreds of thousands are enticed through fake job advertisements, confined in compounds, and coerced into carrying out online social engineering scams.
While not everyone forced to commit fraud in these centres is technically trafficked, those held against their will are routinely subjected to extortion, physical abuse, sexual exploitation, torture, and even rape.
In 2024, a global operation coordinated by INTERPOL uncovered dozens of cases in which trafficked victims were coerced into committing fraud, prompting raids on industrial-scale scam centres in the Philippines. These centres orchestrated online scams that targeted additional victims across the globe, leaving many with devastating financial losses and lasting emotional trauma.
Since 2023, INTERPOL has documented how this threat has escalated from a regional problem in Southeast Asia to a full-fledged global crisis, prompting the issuance of an Orange Notice to alert law enforcement worldwide to its severity and urgency.
Acting Executive Director of Police Services at INTERPOL, Cyril Gout, said, “The reach of online scam centres spans the globe and represents a dynamic and persistent challenge. Tackling this rapidly globalising threat requires coordinated international responses, enhanced information exchange, and partnerships with NGOs and technology companies whose platforms are exploited.”
Saturday PUNCH gathered that many victims are lured with fake Canada or Europe job offers, only to be exploited within West Africa.
In February 2021, the United Nations Office on Drugs and Crime, in partnership with Nigeria’s National Agency for the Prohibition of Trafficking in Persons, presented the key findings of the Fifth Global Report on Trafficking in Persons.
The report revealed that children accounted for more than 75 per cent of trafficking victims detected in West Africa. Covering 148 countries and over 95 per cent of the global population, the study primarily relied on official statistics from 2016 to 2019.
It stated that West African countries detect more trafficking victims than other parts of Sub-Saharan Africa, with children disproportionately affected and forced labour the primary form of exploitation.
According to the report, of 4,799 victims identified across 26 Sub-Saharan African nations, 3,336 were in West Africa, including 2,553 children, while nearly 80 per cent of trafficking victims in the region are exploited through forced labour, which continues to be the dominant form of abuse.
Nigerians exploited in Ghana
Investigations reveal that Nigerian victims in Ghana are subjected to dehumanising treatment. Exploited individuals are often framed and deported in collusion with corrupt officials, preventing them from seeking legal redress.
The proximity of Ghana to Gaoua, Burkina Faso, has made it a strategic partner in the cross-border job scams operating across West Africa.
Saturday PUNCH in an earkier reported published on January 17, 2026, that dozens of Nigerians lured to Ghana with promises of white-collar jobs were left with debt, shame, and no recourse. Many were trafficked through sophisticated recruitment scams allegedly linked to QNET operatives, often working in connivance with some compromised Ghanaian security officials.
QNET, a Hong Kong-based e-commerce direct-selling company founded in 1998, offers health, wellness, and lifestyle products. However, criminals have reportedly hijacked its recruitment structure to defraud unsuspecting job seekers.
For Oluwa Enitan, an ex-employee of Nestle Foods in Shagamu, Ogun State, the ordeal was one of broken trust and exploitation.
Enitan had resigned from her job and travelled to Ghana with her ex-boyfriend after he was offered a promising customer care role, only to face exploitation. She paid N1.5m for what was presented as a legitimate employment opportunity.
According to her, the recruitment process appeared professional because it relied on referrals, LinkedIn outreach, CV submissions, and interviews. But upon arrival, reality set in.
Saturday PUNCH learnt that the same pattern that operated in Burkina Faso was unfolding again in Ghana, suggesting it is the same criminal rings perpetrating these heinous crimes.
Instead of an office job, Enitan and other recruits were housed in a single building functioning as a holding and training centre.
They were taught networking and digital marketing, activities far removed from the roles they had been promised.
“They rented a house and put all of us there. I was interviewed and even given the role of Customer Support Agent based on my experience. But nothing was real,” she said.
According to her, the operation relied on a closed loop of recruitment, coercion, and extortion.
“Victims were compelled to recruit others, turning each target into a potential recruiter. Many of those scammed were employees of a multinational company in Shagamu, Ogun State. I was lured by a trusted colleague who was already trapped.
“I made payments into an Opay account before being moved across multiple accounts, an apparent attempt to obscure the money trail,” she said.
More disturbing than Enitan’s revelation was an allegation of collusion between some Ghanaian police and QNET officials. She alleged that their main concern was collecting money and then facilitating victims’ deportation.
“I noticed that some Ghanaian police worked with the QNET officials. After collecting money, they would set people up as illegal immigrants and hand them over to immigration for deportation,” Entan alleged.
She explained that victims who could no longer pay or refused to recruit others were reportedly targeted, extorted, and eventually deported to Nigeria penniless and traumatised.
Enitan described a long, exhausting journey from Nigeria to Ghana via Aflao, then Kumasi, and finally Techiman, a town far from the promised corporate offices in Accra.
“They have drivers from Nigeria who transport people by road. It was stressful and confusing. Upon arrival, the syndicates welcomed us with good food and hospitality to lower suspicions. After that, everything changed. Sometimes we ate only white rice with palm oil or garri,” she added.
Still in Ghanaian captivity, another victim, who identified himself as Williams, said he lost N1.2m to the scheme in Techiman.
Lamenting his ordeal, he said he was pressured to recruit friends and family after paying his fee.
“I refused. I can’t do this to my fellow human beings,” he said, but in captivity, such resistance made little difference.
Williams said some victims resigned from their jobs after accepting the fake offers, while others sold property or borrowed heavily to raise as much as N4m and are now afraid to return home.
“How do I face people who already heard I got a big job in Ghana?” he asked.
Williams called on Nigerian and Ghanaian authorities to investigate the operation as a case of human trafficking, extortion, and enslavement.
Meanwhile, detailed investigations by Saturday PUNCH allegedly point to a Nigerian, Noah Idris from Dekina Local Government Area, Kogi State, who is said to be operating from Ghana with some accomplices, including Mumeen Baruwa.
When contacted, Baruwa denied involvement in the scam, claiming he was also a victim.
“I am not the person who took them to Ghana. I am also a victim. It affected me, and I am not in QNET. I have instituted a case in Abuja against the people who took me to Ghana. They lied to me that there was work over there, and when I got there, it was something else,” he said.
Baruwa alleged that Idris and one Ajaja were involved in the scheme. Ajaja, however, denied any involvement.
“I didn’t involve anybody in QNET. Nobody can say I did something wrong. They should bring proof if they find me guilty of anything,” he said.
Efforts to obtain a response from Ghana’s Economic and Organised Crime Office were unsuccessful.
However, the agency later announced the arrest of 320 individuals in Kumasi during an anti-human trafficking and anti-fraud operation carried out in collaboration with QNET.
Meanwhile, the Nigerian Embassy in Ghana has yet to respond to emails sent to its official address on the issue.
