156 Rescued As NAPTIP Exposes Fake Overseas Jobs Trafficking Network

The National Agency for the Prohibition of Trafficking in Persons (NAPTIP) has rescued 156 victims of human trafficking between January and July 2026, while over 300 Nigerians trafficked to Ghana and Côte d’Ivoire were repatriated in 2025, as the agency raised fresh concerns over the growing use of fake overseas job offers to recruit educated Nigerian youths into cybercrime syndicates in Southeast Asia.

Director-General of NAPTIP, Binta Bello, disclosed this on Wednesday during a press briefing in Abuja ahead of the 2026 World Day Against Trafficking in Persons, warning that trafficking networks have shifted from traditional forms of exploitation to sophisticated online scams.

Speaking on this year’s theme: “Trapped Behind the Scam,” Bello said traffickers now target educated and tech-savvy graduates with promises of lucrative jobs in information technology, digital marketing, cryptocurrency trading, customer service, gaming and telecommunications.

According to her, many victims only discover after arriving in countries across Southeast Asia that the advertised jobs do not exist.

“Instead, their passports are confiscated, their freedom is restricted, and they are forced under threats, intimidation, violence, debt bondage or psychological coercion to perpetrate sophisticated online scams targeting unsuspecting victims across the world,” she said.

The NAPTIP boss described the development as an emerging dimension of human trafficking with devastating consequences for victims and their families.

She revealed that more than 300,000 people are trafficked annually into scam compounds across Southeast Asia, generating an estimated $64 billion in illicit revenue, with victims originating from about 66 countries. She added that nearly 74 per cent of the identified scam compounds are located in the Mekong region, including Myanmar, Cambodia, Thailand and Laos.

Bello said victims who fail to meet imposed fraud targets are subjected to severe abuse.

“For those who fail to meet targets, they are locked in solitary confinement, tortured, raped and even have their organs harvested,” she said, adding that many families lose contact with loved ones after they travel abroad in search of jobs.

She explained that traffickers typically recruit victims through social media job advertisements, encrypted messaging platforms and informal financial channels before transporting them overseas, where they are confined in heavily guarded compounds and forced to carry out romance and investment scams.

On the agency’s enforcement efforts, Bello disclosed that NAPTIP’s Cyber Response Team had dismantled several domestic scam centres described as “fraud academies,” arresting operators of criminal networks known as Yahoo Plus, Yahoo Extra and Hustle Kingdom, who allegedly trained young people in cyber-enabled financial and sexual extortion.

She said those arrested are currently facing prosecution.

The Director-General also highlighted recent rescue operations carried out by the agency.

“A few months ago, I personally led an operation which resulted in the interception and rescue of 46 suspected victims of human trafficking at the Nnamdi Azikiwe International Airport, Abuja, who were being trafficked to security-challenged countries in the Middle East. About 120 victims were also rescued in Kano,” she said.

Bello further disclosed that NAPTIP has secured 839 convictions since its establishment, including 47 convictions between January and July 2026.

She cited the recent conviction of a high-profile trafficker and his wife in Ondo State, with properties worth millions of naira forfeited to the government, as evidence that the agency was increasingly dismantling major trafficking networks.

Also speaking, the Country Representative of the United Nations Office on Drugs and Crime (UNODC), Cheik Touré, said tackling trafficking required more than arrests and prosecutions.

He argued that creating employment opportunities for young Nigerians remained one of the most effective ways of preventing trafficking.

“Trafficking thrives where legitimate opportunity is scarce. Every skill acquired, every job created and every opportunity opened at home is one less door left ajar for traffickers to exploit,” he said.

Touré also urged journalists to adopt survivor-centred reporting that protects victims from further stigma while promoting accountability.

The Chief of Mission of the International Organisation for Migration (IOM), Dimanche Sharon, said the agency’s data showed that young people remain the most vulnerable to trafficking.

She disclosed that persons aged 18 to 25 account for about 54 per cent of assisted trafficking victims, while those aged 18 to 49 represent about 93 per cent of migrants supported by the organisation.

According to her, IOM has assisted more than 7,600 trafficking victims in Nigeria since 2017, providing protection, rehabilitation, voluntary return and reintegration services.

She stressed that victims forced into online fraud should be recognised as trafficking victims rather than criminals.

Head of the International Centre for Migration Policy Development (ICMPD) Nigeria Office, Isabelle Wolfsgruber, said the organisation’s School Anti-Trafficking Education and Advocacy Project had reached over 80,000 students, 1,000 teachers and 6,000 parents across Benue, Delta, Edo, Enugu and Ogun states.

She said the initiative has established 136 School Anti-Trafficking Vanguard Clubs, enabling students to educate their peers on trafficking risks.

Wolfsgruber added that ICMPD, in partnership with NAPTIP and CIVIPOL, had trained more than 345 investigators, prosecutors and judicial officers on tackling trafficking, cybercrime and digital evidence.

Representing the Kingdom of the Netherlands, First Secretary on Migration at the Dutch Embassy, Sib Siebesma, reaffirmed his country’s support for Nigeria’s anti-trafficking efforts through multiple programmes implemented in partnership with ICMPD, IOM, UNODC and other organisations.

NAPTIP announced that activities marking the 2026 World Day Against Trafficking in Persons will begin on July 24 with public sensitisation campaigns, culminating in the main commemoration on July 30, followed by a survivors’ day-out and a novelty football match with development partners.