The Sampa Sector Command of the Ghana Immigration Service (GIS) in the Bono Region has carried out a rescue operation, saving 11 Nigerian nationals from alleged human trafficking agents near the Ghana-Ivory Coast border in the Jaman North District.
These individuals fell prey to a fraudulent online scheme known as “Q-Net,” which purportedly offered them overseas job opportunities but, in reality, swindled them of substantial amounts of money.
With the support of their families and relatives, all the victims have been safely repatriated to their home countries.
The victims had been trafficked and held against their will in Bondoukou, a city in northeastern Cote d’Ivoire, situated approximately 420 kilometers northeast of Abidjan, and they had been smuggled through unauthorized routes in the district with the assistance of unidentified commercial motorbike riders (Okada) in the area.
Assistant Commissioner of Immigration (ACI) John Morcher, the Sector Commander of the GIS, disclosed that preliminary investigations indicated the involvement of Okada riders who facilitated the movement of these unsuspecting victims across the border into Cote d’Ivoire through illicit routes.
The victims were identified by a sensitization team established by the International Centre for Migration and Policy Development (ICMPD) and CDD-Ghana as part of their Cross-Border Crime and Human Trafficking awareness initiative in the district.
ACI Morcher praised the project’s implementation for raising awareness about cross-border crimes in the region.
He also issued a stern warning to Okada riders engaging in these unscrupulous and illegal activities, stating that they would be prosecuted under the Human Trafficking Act, 2005 (Act 694).
Deputy Superintendent of Immigration (DSI) David Odoi Kpobi, who led the sensitization team, revealed that the victims had managed to escape from a camp in Bondoukou and had arrived at the Sampa border on Wednesday, October 11, 2023.
After thorough profiling by border security, it was uncovered that they had fallen victim to the “Q-Net” scheme, which had defrauded them of significant sums of money.
Some of the victims admitted to transferring substantial amounts of money from Nigeria to their captors through intermediaries before leaving Nigeria, journeying through Ghana to Cote d’Ivoire with hopes of working abroad, only to find themselves held hostage and mistreated.