Seventy-six Ghanaians rescued from trafficking camps linked to QNET in Nigeria

The Ghana Police Service has confirmed the rescue of seventy-six Ghanaian nationals who were trafficked to Nigeria under a fraudulent recruitment scheme linked to the operations of QNET.

The Director-General of the Criminal Investigation Department (CID), Deputy Commissioner of Police (DCOP) Lydia Yaako Donkor, made this known at a press briefing held in Accra on Monday, June 30, 2025.

According to DCOP Donkor, the victims were lured with false promises of football contracts, job placements abroad, or assistance with visa processing.

The operations to retrieve them were carried out between May 19 and June 27, 2025, in partnership with Interpol and Nigerian law enforcement agencies.

Thirty victims were rescued in Akwa Ibom State on May 19, while fifteen more were found in Oyo on June 22. In total, seventy-six Ghanaians have been rescued so far. Seven Ghanaian suspects linked to the trafficking network were arrested in Nigeria and remain in custody.

Most of the victims were young men who had been kept in overcrowded and unhygienic conditions. Their mobile phones and travel documents were seized upon arrival, and they were placed under strict surveillance.

According to police, they were forced to contact family members in Ghana to solicit money under the pretext of paying training or facilitation fees.

QNET, the company at the centre of the recruitment scam, is a network marketing firm whose operations in Ghana were dissolved by an Accra High Court in July 2022.

The dissolution followed a petition by the then Attorney-General, who accused the company of engaging in illegal and deceptive practices similar to a Ponzi scheme.

DCOP Donkor warned that anyone involved in recruiting, transporting, or harbouring persons under such fraudulent operations would be prosecuted under Ghana’s Anti-Human Trafficking Act (Act 694) and the Criminal Code (Act 29).

“The psychological and economic harm caused to these victims and their families is devastating,” she said. She also urged Ghanaians to be extremely cautious about offers of overseas jobs or training that require upfront payments or undocumented arrangements.

Efforts are currently underway to repatriate the rescued individuals and reunite them with their families in Ghana.

The CID also revealed that other suspects connected to the same trafficking ring, but arrested in Ghana, are currently before the courts.