The National Agency for the Prohibition of Trafficking in Persons has rescued and repatriated 23 Nigerian youths who were trafficked to Thailand and other Southeast Asian countries and forced into large scale cybercrime schemes.

According to NAPTIP Director General Binta Adamu Bello, the operation was the result of a coordinated international effort involving anti trafficking group Eden in Myanmar, support from the British government and decisive intervention by the Nigerian Embassy in Bangkok, which facilitated emergency travel documents for the victims.

Investigations revealed that the young Nigerians, many of them with strong computer skills and clean medical records, were lured with promises of scholarships and lucrative jobs abroad. Instead, they were moved through trafficking routes into Myanmar, Thailand, Laos and Cambodia, where they were compelled to work in organised online fraud centres.

The victims recounted how, on arrival, they were trained in sophisticated cyber enabled crimes, including romance scams, cryptocurrency fraud and fake investment platforms. Some were enrolled in language schools, particularly Chinese, and later deployed as “customer care” agents to build trust with foreign targets in the United States, United Kingdom, Ethiopia, Canada and other countries.

They described being housed in crowded hostels fitted with bunk beds and equipped with computers and phones, working under constant surveillance by heavily armed gang members. Daily financial targets were imposed, and failure to meet them attracted brutal punishment.

Survivors told NAPTIP that those who resisted were taken to a so called “dark room” where they were tortured. Some victims, especially younger non smokers considered “healthy”, were allegedly killed and had their organs harvested, underscoring the deadly convergence of human trafficking, cybercrime and organ trafficking in the region.

Bello warned that this emerging pattern marks a dangerous shift in trafficking trends, with syndicates now aggressively targeting “vibrant and intelligent” Nigerian youths for exploitation in transnational fraud networks. She called for stronger collaboration among security agencies, foreign missions, civil society and technology platforms to detect recruitment, dismantle the syndicates and protect potential victims.

NAPTIP said it has stepped up intelligence sharing with partners across Southeast Asia and pledged to pursue the ringleaders behind the network. The rescued victims are now in Nigeria, undergoing rehabilitation, counselling and reintegration programmes under the agency’s supervision.