Abuja: The British High Commission and the National Agency for the Prohibition of Trafficking in Persons (NAPTIP) have issued a warning to Nigerians regarding deceptive overseas job offers. They highlighted these offers as tactics used to traffic unsuspecting victims into cyber-enabled scam centres across Southeast Asia.
According to News Agency of Nigeria, the warning was made during a joint survivor-centred event in Abuja, themed ‘Confronting the Global Scam Centre Crisis: Perspectives of Nigerian Survivors.’ The event focused on how individuals are lured abroad with promises of lucrative employment, only to be trafficked to countries such as Myanmar, Laos, Cambodia, and Thailand for sophisticated cyber-fraud operations.
The UK and NAPTIP officials advised the public to remain cautious of such scams. They emphasized that legitimate employers do not recruit via social media, demand upfront payments, or require travel on tourist visas for employment purposes.
Gill Lever, the British Deputy High Commissioner in Abuja, stated that the UK is collaborating with Nigerian authorities and partners to provide trauma-informed care and safe repatriation for survivors. Lever emphasized the importance of listening to survivors who shared their experiences, noting that their courage is crucial in preventing further harm and addressing this growing threat. She described the scam-centre phenomenon as a global security challenge, noting that criminal networks defraud victims of over 64 billion U.S. dollars annually, with British citizens losing an estimated 11.4 billion euros to scams in 2024.
Mrs. Kehinde Akomolafe, representing the Director-General of NAPTIP, highlighted that survivors’ testimonies reveal the harsh realities of trafficking into scam centres. She asserted that regardless of the setting, trafficking victims are not criminals. Akomolafe reiterated NAPTIP’s commitment to protecting Nigerians from such scams.
The event, as reported by News Agency of Nigeria, followed a recent trafficking incident involving Nigerian victims in Thailand. The rescue operation, which safely returned 23 victims, was a joint effort by NAPTIP, the Ministry of Foreign Affairs, the Nigerian Embassy in Bangkok, and a British NGO, EDEN. The operation included coordination at the Thai-Myanmar border and welfare visits to those held at Bangkok’s Immigration Detention Centre.
Several survivors shared their harrowing experiences of being confined in guarded compounds, forced to work long hours on online scams, and subjected to physical and psychological abuse. One survivor recounted being promised a better life, only to be trapped in fear, while another survivor described the death of a fellow captive following repeated torture.
The 2026 report by the United Nations Office of the High Commissioner for Human Rights (OHCHR), titled ‘A Wicked Problem,’ indicates that at least 120,000 people are currently trapped in forced scam operations in Myanmar, with over 300,000 affected across Southeast Asia. The report reveals that victims hail from at least 66 countries, with 74 per cent trafficked into scam centres worldwide between 2020 and 2025 after being promised high-paying jobs.