Twenty Burkina Faso nationals who were allegedly lured to Ghana with promises of lucrative employment have been rescued from a suspected human-trafficking and cybercrime operation.

The intervention was carried out by Engage Now Africa (ENA) in partnership with the Anti-Human Trafficking Unit of the Economic and Organised Crime Office (EOCO).

According to ENA, the victims, comprising young men and women, were recruited online and assured that they would secure well-paid corporate jobs in Ghana or receive assistance to travel abroad in search of better opportunities.

However, after arriving in Ghana, they allegedly became trapped in an exploitative scheme and were compelled to meet daily cybercrime targets.

Interviews with the victims reportedly revealed that the recruiters had also collected substantial sums from them under the pretext of processing travel documents.

Following their rescue, the victims were accommodated for about a month at ENA’s House of Hope transitional shelter. They received counselling, psychosocial assistance, food and other forms of care before being repatriated to Burkina Faso.

ENA said Ensign Global University supported the victims’ welfare through a public-health approach, while QNET contributed to the rescue and repatriation exercise.

Speaking to the media, ENA’s Director of End Modern Slavery, Afasi Komla, said traffickers often relied on secrecy, deception and misinformation to exploit vulnerable people.

He reaffirmed the organisation’s commitment to combating human trafficking and other forms of exploitation, while urging members of the public to verify employment offers before accepting them.

Mr Komla also advised prospective migrants to seek information from reliable sources, question suspicious recruitment arrangements and report suspected online scams or unlicensed recruitment agencies to the appropriate authorities.

The rescue highlights the dangers associated with fraudulent online employment offers and the need for stronger public awareness, cross-border cooperation and enforcement against trafficking networks.