Abroad based Nigerian Investigative journalist and founder of the West Africa Weekly, a Substack newsletter, David Hundeyin warned Nigerians against travelling to any west African countries to look for job, claimed they may likely fall victim of human trafficking under the disguise of work.

Hundeyin emphasised they have better opportunity of getting work in Nigeria than in any West African countries, in search of greener pasture as women may fall victim of prostitution and men slavery.

The journalist made the post on his X on Monday stating: “If you’re a Nigerian in Nigeria and anybody comes to you with an offer to relocate to Ghana/Cote d’Ivoire/Burkina Faso/any other country in West Africa with a job or hustle supposedly waiting for you, you can safely assume that they intend to traffick you.

“There is no job anywhere in West Africa. In fact you’re more likely to find a job in Nigeria than in any of those places.” He added.

The journalist asserted that there are people who wouldn’t believe the post but if it will help some percentage then he has done his quota in saving the innocent from perilous danger

 He continued: “If you are female, there is a 99% chance you will end up in the only activity that trafficked women do, and if you are male, you will end up locked up in a house where you will be forced to scam people online, ask your friends and family to send you money (which your captors will seize), or convince other people like you back home to fall into the same trap.

“If you’re REALLY unlucky and young enough, you might end up becoming somebody’s slave inside a Galamsey pit, or enslaved to a fisherman somewhere on Lake Volta for the next 8 years (this is actually a thing that happens).

“I know this tweet will not change anything, because many of you have been brainwashed into believing that everywhere outside Nigeria is flowing with honey and gold dust and your “star” resides anywhere but Nigeria, but on the off chance that it helps convince 0.1% of potential victims to sit their asses at home and find something to do, instead of becoming anonymous roadkill in Kasoa, then I have done my job.” Hundeyin stated

Under his comment section, some social media users opined that there are people who earned genuinely in those countries and warned him not to generalize. According to @betnightmare: “There are Nigerian people earning between 600k to 1,600,000 naira monthly in those countries you mentioned. Not joking about this. If you don’t know the right channel, stop condemning people that wishes to help out the others.”

However most people in the comment section agree with his post as various people narrate different experiences of Nigerians being promised Canada relocation from Ghana while they are forced into prostitution or internet scamming, with no hope of going home or to the western world.

@olumose3047: “There’s this Ponzi scheme called “Qnet” luring people into Burkina Faso in d name of working for Diamond & Gold mining company,you’ll be asked to pay 1 million naira before entering the company, they’ll take dem to 3 bedroom flats where u will be ask to do the same to ur contacts.”

@chiaruzugo: “I live in Ghana, kasoa to be precise and every single word here is true, many Nigerians here that manage to escape or they allow to leave some of these camp are now pushing wheel barrow in order to raise money for transportation back to Nigeria”

@washington_wrld: “Where I come from in Ghana, about 90% of those into prostitution are Nigerians. I don’t know what they tell them before coming but if you listen to few of them, it’s clear they convince them of a better job opportunity as you are saying.”

@epraimamos: ‘As a Nigerian living in Ghana, I can confirm that @DavidHundeyinis 100% correct. I helped a young man out of one of those “yahoo” prisons few years ago. There are girls as young as 16 years that are trafficked here as s*x slav*s daily.”

@SlaywithAce: “My neighbor fell into this trap Had the audacity to call my daddy to send sponsor my brother because the place is okay If you bring one person over successfully you’ll be given 100k That mf wanted to sell my brother for 100k.”

In the same vein, it looked as if Nigerians are not the only ones being lured with lucrative business in those countries, as some Africans are complaining of the same fate meeting with them in nigeria.

According to @CoolGodVibes: “And they are doing same to Ghanaians, locking them in houses in Nigeria. For them, they’re promised jobs in Canada but ended up in Nigeria or Cotè d’lvoire.”

@fuenbi22: “The same is happening is happening to Cameroonians in Nigeria. I have a brother in-law that was rescued from Nigeria.”

@cryptonic_flair: “Currently in Canada and my Ghanaian friend said he came from Ghana to Nigeria for passport shit and I was like how?? But guess what? Na him Ghana guy sev hook all of them up. So let talk it our people that are doing it not Nigerians doing it to Ghanaians or Ghanaians to Nigerians”

By: Adeoye Olorunseun Elizabeth