The Nigeria Police Force has rescued a 24-year-old Ghanaian man from a human trafficking network and taken five suspects into custody in Ofada, Ogun State.
The operation, carried out by the International Police Annex of the Force Criminal Investigation Department in Lagos, followed a request for assistance from INTERPOL Accra.
According to the police, the victim and his father were allegedly deceived in July 2025 by a 25-year-old Ghanaian woman, Hassana Abban, who resides in Ofada. She reportedly promised to arrange their travel to Canada and collected 40,000 cedis, the equivalent of about N4.9 million. On arrival in Nigeria, their passports and phones were allegedly seized, and they were forced into activities connected to fraudulent online trading schemes.
After INTERPOL Accra alerted Nigerian authorities on September 15, 2025, a special team tracked the victim’s location. He was rescued the following day, and the police arrested Abban alongside four other suspects identified as Odubuasi David, a Nigerian, and three Ghanaians: Yahaya Salifu, Sherifa Haruna, and Ebenezer Ofosu.
The rescued victim has since been reunited with his family in Ghana, while the suspects remain in custody as investigations continue. The police described the operation as part of ongoing efforts to strengthen regional cooperation against human trafficking and cross-border crimes.
This latest case follows other joint operations in recent months. In August 2025, police in Akwa Ibom freed 20 Ghanaians trafficked into Uyo, while in July 2025, a Ghanaian man named Sammed Iddrisu was rescued in Abuja after being misled with a false job offer abroad.
The Inspector-General of Police, Kayode Egbetokun, commended the operatives involved in the latest rescue and assured both the public and international partners that criminal groups operating across borders would continue to face justice.