When Victoria Kilani appeared in a promotional video for a foreign job programme circulating across various social media platforms, she spoke enthusiastically about a new opportunity abroad.
“There are no downsides,” she said, smiling in the video filmed in Russia’s Tatarstan region. “No racism.”
For thousands of young Africans struggling with unemployment and economic uncertainty, such promises can be irresistible.
But investigation by BusinessDay suggests that some migrants who accept these offers are ending up in harsh working environments, including factories producing military drones used in the war between Russia and Ukraine.
Others have reportedly been recruited into cybercrime rings, forced labour schemes or sexual exploitation networks.
Experts say the cases illustrate a growing global trafficking economy that is drawing in vulnerable African youth through deceptive recruitment campaigns, digital platforms and irregular migration channels.
Read also: Kenya to confront Russia over secret recruitment of its citizens for Ukraine war
Migration dreams meet harsh realities
Across Africa, economic pressure continues to fuel migration.
High youth unemployment, currency instability and the search for better opportunities abroad are pushing many young people to pursue what Nigerians popularly call ‘Japa’, leaving the country in search of greener pastures.
For some migrants, however, the journey ends in exploitation.
One Nigerian man, Kehinde Oluwagbemileke, was captured by Ukrainian forces in 2025 while fighting alongside Russian troops. His family said they had no knowledge he had joined the war until the news emerged publicly.
Researchers say the case highlights how migrants can become entangled in foreign conflicts through complex recruitment systems that promise employment or training.
Security experts warn that the intersection between migration and global conflict economies is growing.
Migration numbers rising
Statistics reveal the scale of migration pressures across the continent.
According to the International Organization for Migration (IOM), at least 34,694 stranded Nigerian migrants have been assisted to return home since 2017, with 28,204 receiving reintegration support through vocational training and livelihood programmes.
Many of the returnees had attempted irregular migration through North Africa and Europe.
The trend is not limited to Nigeria.
Data cited in international investigations show that more than 111,000 African workers travelled to Russia in 2024, a sharp rise compared with previous years as labour shortages increased following the Ukraine war.
Experts say these migration flows create opportunities for traffickers.
A growing global challenge
Experts say the emerging trafficking patterns show how global crime networks are adapting to economic and technological changes.
Human trafficking now generates more than $172.6 billion annually worldwide, according to International Labour Organisation 2023 estimate.
Of that amount, about $62.1 billion comes from sexual exploitation, while $72.4 billion is generated through forced labour.
As long as economic inequality and migration pressures remain high, security analyst and chief executive of Strict Guard Limited, Bone Efose told BusinessDay that trafficking networks will continue targeting vulnerable populations.
Efose said economic hardship is driving many young Nigerians to take risky migration routes.
According to him, the search for greener pastures combined with pressure from families and society is pushing youths to accept job offers without proper verification.
“In many Nigerian homes, parents measure success by how quickly their children begin sending money from abroad. That pressure creates desperation,” he said.
Efose warned that many foreign recruitment offers are deliberately misleading. “They will never tell Nigerians that they are going to work in military support facilities or factories tied to war. They make attractive offers and once the young people arrive, they realise the reality is different,” he averred.
He said some migrants are exposed to hazardous working conditions, including long hours and dangerous chemicals.
Inside the drone factory investigation
The scale of exploitation became clearer in May 2025 when the Global Initiative Against Transnational Organized Crime (GI-TOC) published a detailed investigation into migrant recruitment in Russia.
The report, “Who Is Making Russia’s Drones? The Migrant Women Exploited for Russia’s War Economy,” examined operations at the Alabuga Special Economic Zone in Russia’s Tatarstan region.
Researchers found that the Alabuga Start programme targeted women aged 18 to 22 from Africa, Asia and Latin America.
The programme promised salaries of about $500 a month, accommodation and the opportunity to study at Russian universities.
But the investigation found that up to 90 percent of recruits were placed on drone-assembly production lines rather than education programmes.
The factories produce Iranian-designed Shahed-136 drones, renamed Geran-2, which are widely used by Russia in the Ukraine war.
The report estimated that around 800 foreign women had joined the programme since 2022, including dozens from African countries such as Nigeria, Uganda, Rwanda and Cameroon.
Researchers documented several troubling working conditions.
Workers reported 12-hour shifts, frequent unpaid overtime, strict surveillance and restrictions on movement.
Some migrants said they experienced chemical exposure during drone manufacturing, which caused nosebleeds, skin irritation and breathing difficulties.
The report also noted that workers were required to sign non-disclosure agreements and financial penalty clauses, making it difficult to leave the programme without paying large sums.
Several Ukrainian drone strikes on the facility in April 2024, December 2024 and April 2025 injured foreign workers living in dormitories near the factories.
Researchers concluded that deceptive recruitment combined with exploitative conditions could meet international criteria for human trafficking.
Read also: Russia- Ukraine peace talks stall as Iran war shifts global focus
Governments begin to react
The revelations have prompted responses from several African governments.
In Kenya, officials launched investigations into recruitment networks after reports emerged that citizens were being lured into military roles or industrial support jobs connected to the war.
Musalia Mudavadi, Kenyan foreign minister in March 2026, announced that Nairobi had reached an agreement with Moscow to stop the recruitment of Kenyan citizens into Russian military service.
“We have now agreed that Kenyans shall not be enlisted through the Russian Ministry of Defence. There will be no further enlistment,” Mudavadi said after meeting Russia’s foreign minister in Moscow.
Kenya estimates that more than 1,000 of its citizens may have been recruited to fight in the conflict, prompting pressure from families and lawmakers.
Other African governments have also issued warnings about deceptive recruitment schemes targeting their youth.
Nigeria’s cautious position
Nigeria has taken a more cautious stance.
Vincent Adekoye, head of the Press and Public Relations Unit at the National Agency for the Prohibition of Trafficking in Persons (NAPTIP), said the agency has increased diplomatic engagement, public awareness campaigns and enforcement operations to address growing cases of irregular migration to volatile countries.
Adekoye told BusinessDay that NAPTIP, under its director-general Hadia Binta Ademobolu, is particularly concerned about Nigerians being recruited for work in conflict-affected destinations including Iraq, Azerbaijan, Oman and Northern Cyprus.
Adekoye explained that traffickers frequently present themselves as benefactors offering a better future, using fake documents and recruitment schemes to convince families.
To further tighten oversight, NAPTIP is enforcing regulations introduced in 2019 that monitor organisations and agencies that take groups of Nigerians abroad for activities such as excursions, cultural events, modelling or exhibitions.
Under the rules, such organisations must register with the agency and obtain clearance before travelling. Immigration authorities at airports verify the documents, while NAPTIP ensures that those who leave the country return with the same group they travelled with.
Meanwhile, Adekoye advised Nigerians who may already be stranded abroad or trapped in suspicious employment arrangements to seek help through Nigerian embassies, non-governmental organisations or development partners in their host countries.
“If they want to come back and they are in difficulty, they should try to reach the Nigerian embassy or recognised support organisations. That is often the safest pathway for them to get assistance and find their way home,” he said.
However, at a national anti-trafficking forum in Abuja, stakeholders including the National Agency for the Prohibition of Trafficking in Persons (NAPTIP), the United Nations Office on Drugs and Crime and the Office of the United Nations High Commissioner for Human Rights called for stronger and more coordinated action to tackle trafficking and exploitation in Nigeria.
Participants stressed that sustained political commitment at both federal and state levels would be critical to confronting the evolving trafficking networks targeting vulnerable populations. They urged state governments to activate anti-trafficking task forces and ensure that justice institutions are strengthened so that traffickers can be investigated and prosecuted effectively.
The forum also emphasised the need for broader preventive measures to reduce the conditions that make people vulnerable to traffickers. Stakeholders noted that expanding community-based empowerment initiatives could help address poverty and unemployment at the grassroots level, while stronger digital literacy and online safety campaigns would equip young people with the knowledge needed to identify and avoid cyber-enabled trafficking schemes that increasingly originate on social media and online recruitment platforms.
Participants further highlighted the importance of ensuring that anti-trafficking interventions are inclusive, particularly by integrating persons with disabilities into the design and implementation of national programmes so that their unique vulnerabilities are not overlooked. They also called for stronger bilateral and multilateral agreements that would improve the identification, safe return and rehabilitation of trafficked persons, especially those stranded abroad.
Another key recommendation focused on improving support systems for survivors of trafficking. Stakeholders said reintegration efforts must go beyond simple repatriation to include mental health support, vocational training, educational opportunities and community engagement that would allow survivors to rebuild their lives and avoid falling back into trafficking networks.
The forum also underscored the need for stronger legal and policy frameworks capable of addressing the growing cyber dimension of trafficking, including online recruitment, digital fraud rings and cross-border criminal networks that increasingly exploit technology.
In addition, participants endorsed the operationalisation of a new national anti-human trafficking dashboard, a digital reporting platform designed to enhance transparency, strengthen coordination among agencies and enable data-driven decision-making in Nigeria’s anti-trafficking response. Officials said the platform would help authorities track trafficking trends more effectively and improve collaboration among government institutions, civil society organisations and international partners.
Read also: We’ve lost livelihoods as shop owners, now jobless, Onitsha traders lament
Experts warn about migration pressures
Efose urged Nigerian youths to conduct thorough background checks before accepting overseas job offers.
“Verify information, check the authenticity of recruitment agencies and consult government institutions before travelling,” he advised.
He also called on parents to take a more active role in guiding their children.
“Parents must ask questions about where their children are going and what jobs they will be doing. Travelling abroad should not be treated as the only measure of success,” he said.
Efose also criticised the government for not issuing stronger travel advisories.
“Our foreign affairs and security institutions should publish regular warnings about high-risk destinations.
“These warnings should be on television, radio, newspapers and social media so young people understand the dangers,” he advised.
Civil society organisations say awareness is critical to preventing trafficking.
Abirero Idogho, community coordinator of Isafehub, said many young women who migrate are unaware of the risks involved.
“We are working with the media to educate Nigerian women so they can take charge of their lives. Most women who migrate do not want to be used for sexual exploitation. They want opportunities to work and support themselves, but traffickers take advantage of them,” she told BusinessDay.
Idogho urged victims who find themselves trapped abroad to seek help and return home.
“All hope is not lost. There are opportunities here in Nigeria and organisations ready to support them,” she said
Migration experts also weighed-in, stating that reintegration support is essential for survivors of trafficking.
Cheptepkeny Cyprine, awareness-raising programme officer at the International Organization for Migration (IOM), said Nigeria has made progress in supporting returning migrants.
Since 2017, IOM and the Nigerian government have assisted 34,694 stranded migrants to return home, with 28,204 reintegrated through training and livelihood programmes. Reintegration is a key part of our assistance. Returnees receive vocational training, education and economic support to help them rebuild their lives,” Cyprine told BusinessDay.
She also called on journalists to amplify the voices of women in migration decision-making.
“Media professionals can help raise awareness, support policy reforms and provide platforms where female migrants can share their experiences,” she said.
For many African youths facing uncertain futures, the promise of opportunity abroad remains powerful.
But investigators say the stories emerging from drone factories, cybercrime rings and migration routes are a reminder that the search for opportunity can sometimes lead to exploitation.
And without stronger awareness, policy responses and economic alternatives, experts warn that more young Africans could become trapped in the expanding global trafficking economy.
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