By Charles Maduka
The Nigeria Police Force has rescued a 24-year-old Ghanaian from a human trafficking syndicate and arrested five suspects, including both Ghanaian and Nigerian nationals, during a cross-border operation in Ofada, Ogun State.
According to a statement by the Force Public Relations Officer, Benjamin Hundeyin, the operation was carried out by operatives of the INTERPOL Annex at the Force Criminal Investigation Department, Alagbon, Lagos, following a formal request from INTERPOL Accra.
Police disclosed that the victim and his father were allegedly lured into Nigeria in July 2025 by a 25-year-old Ghanaian woman, Hassana Abban, who resides in Ofada. She allegedly promised to facilitate their travel to Canada but instead obtained 40,000 cedis (about N4.96 million) for false travel arrangements.
Upon arrival in Nigeria, their Ghanaian passports and mobile phones were reportedly seized, and they were forced to work on fraudulent online trading platforms.
After receiving the alert from INTERPOL Accra on September 15, a special team tracked and rescued the victims the following day. The principal suspect, Abban, was arrested alongside four accomplices: Odubuasi David (Nigerian), Yahaya Salifu (Ghanaian), Sherifa Haruna (Ghanaian), and Ebenezer Ofosu (Ghanaian).
All five suspects are in custody while investigations continue. The rescued victims have been reunited with their families in Ghana.
Inspector-General of Police, Kayode Egbetokun, commended the operatives for their professionalism and reaffirmed the Force’s commitment to regional collaboration against human trafficking and transnational crime, pledging that no syndicate operating across borders would escape justice.
PUNCH Metro had earlier reported similar breakthroughs in August and July 2025, when police rescued trafficked Ghanaians in Akwa Ibom and Abuja after alerts from the Ghana Police Service and INTERPOL.
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