Chasing a pot of gold: Desperate Cameroonian youths reap frustration, uncertainty while job hunting in border nation.

Family member of former trafficked victim receive her at Douala international airport

An investigation on a scam network where Cameroonians are lured into Nigeria, Ghana, Côté d'Ivoire with fraudulent job offers



The bulky and brown skin young woman in pink short sleeved T-shirt over a pair of trouser sat on bended arms rested on her knees while her mom and siblings talked animatedly outside their compound in the Village neighbourhood in Douala, Littoral Region of Cameroon.

The family had reason to be joyful. A few days before, on August 28, their daughter had been rescued from her supposed employers after spending four months in Agbado Area of Lagos, South West Nigeria, reported lately as the base for scamming hub where over a hundred of trafficked Cameroonians were reportedly held hostage and forced to scam huge sums of money from their loved ones back home.

Road leading to traffickers’ office in Lagos (Photo credit: HumAngle)

 

 

Armelle Michelle more commonly known as Georgie remained mostly quiet throughout, answering questions posed to her politely but did not volunteer any extra information. It took several attempts before she finally warmed up enough to smile and talk.

Coming from a poor home, the 22-year-old said she was used to being on her own. The diminutive native of the West Region has been a support to herself and family, assisting her mother’s petty trading since graduating from a vocational training centre as a caterer. Michelle said she had tried several failed businesses and dropped applications for jobs severally but had none. 

So, when her neighbour, Kevin Gabriel, known on his Facebook page as "Kevin Vie" called her on WhatsApp that the company he works with Nigeria was recruiting with a well-paid position, offering over 400,000 FCFA monthly salary, with extra housing, transport and welfare allowances, it seemed like an answer to her prayers. 

“Because I thought 'Nigeria' and the big salary, I thought okay, I can try doing this job. I decided to go on my own. If okay, then I would ask my siblings to join me and why not travel abroad from there," she said. 

Michelle revealed she was at first contact resistant, but Kevin insisted and finally succeeded to convince her to join him in Nigeria. She was then interviewed on phone, later issued an employment letter detailing all her benefits as an employee with the supposed Nigeria-based company.

"You’ll be entitled to a mini-training if required. In addition, your accommodation, feeding and healthcare services will be provided by the company for a period of 12 months from the date of signature of your contract. You will be based in Nigeria, specifically in Lagos. If you agree, you will start work at our premises in Lagos. In order to make all the necessary arrangements to integrate you into our team before this date, we ask you to reply to this employment proposal...." partly read the letter written in French.

Michelle left Cameroon in May, 2024, for Nigeria. While in Ekok, the border town in Cameroon, one of her co-passengers attempted to dissuade her from embarking on the adventure, but her mind was made up

Armelle Michelle recounting her experiences

 

 

"The lady told me, don't go there, there is no job...but I said I will go and see for myself, life isn't better where I am," she recounted.

Her tale largely echoes that of other young Cameroonians who ended up in hostage in Lagos, Abuja, Ghana and in extension the Republic of Cote d'Ivoire, after answering fraudulent job offers from fake companies. 

Within the last three years, there have been an intensified fervour among the young population who are seeking an illusory pot of gold at the bottom of a rainbow they believe is nestled in or have been lured to believe exist in neighbouring West African countries. Many of whom have blamed their reasons to leave on the high rate of unemployment back home.

According to the National Institute of Statistics, there are six hundred thousand (600,000) unemployed Cameroonians as of 2023. This statistic represents 3.3% of the working age population. 

Cameroon is ranked by Global Data Research platform, NUMBEO, as a country with the highest cost of living in the entire African continent and 73rd worldwide. 

These figures make it even more difficult for Cameroonian youths to hope for a possible promising future while working on home soil. 

According to an expert, with the advent of social media and digital technology, job scams and trafficking have become worse in recent years. The expert adds that there is little sign of this illicit activity stopping, making the masterminds rich with little risk and leaving many victims traumatized and in worse straits. 

 

Well organized network 

Some of the letters of job offers carry letterheads of companies such as "Go Africa online" - supposed network of business leaders in Africa with a base in Cameroon. Others had 'Quest International' as employer. 

 

See sample of employment letter sent to victims attached here.

 

 

 

Talking with Michelle, she revealed that the employer, Quest International, operates under the brand name "QNET", a direct-selling company that offers a wide range of premium health, wellness, and lifestyle products and services through its e-commerce platform. 

According to details on its website, the company offers its products through its e-commerce portal to retail consumers and distributors — known as Independent Representatives, IRs, who promote the product to others to earn commissions on successful product sales. New comers are asked to provide two persons each in order to climb the success ladder. 

"It is some sort of a Ponzi scheme network and there exists several all over even here in Douala,” Michelle noted.

Upon arrival in Nigeria, Michelle was taken to a hotel, where Kevin asked her to call her parents for 650,000 FCFA - the amount she said, they explained was supposed to serve as processing fee for her documents. 

"I told them I didn't have the money and my mother can't raise that because all I had ever saved, I left home with it. Kevin stripped me of everything, 200, 000 FCFA, my phone and power bank. He left me in the hotel with a girl who was watching after me," she recounted.

 

Joy turned sour

What Michelle thought would be a life-changing opportunity, turned sour when she was taken from the hotel in Lagos, to Abuja. She said she was locked up in a building with 120 other Cameroonian girls aged 22 to 40 years. 

"They would teach us how to scam people. We had daily lessons on online scamming from your most influential circle, love chats on social media. They asked me for 3 million but when I couldn't get that from my family, I was punished, locked up in cold room for two days". 

After several futile attempts, Michelle's traffickers, recorded a video portraying a kidnapped scene, one could hear them saying, “you have 48 hours to send the money or else we will kill her" 

"They are ready to do anything to get money from people. After the cold house experience, they told me we would do what will push your family to send money. They took me to a bush, with another girl, they killed a fowl and poured the blood on me, poured wood ash on my body and placed a matchet on my neck. We were screaming as they recorded the video and sent to my parents," she detailed as her voice fainted slowly. 

Picture captured from video footage sent to Michelle 's family by traffickers

 

 

The phenomenon of companies promising nonexistent lucrative jobs in Nigeria has given rise to an upsurge in cases of human trafficking along the Nigeria-Cameroon border. 

Sources at the Nigerian Consular Office in Douala, have given glimpse of parents reporting their children went missing in Nigeria when they left Cameroon for a job opportunity there. 

"Before now, we had several complaints, this year alone, we have had more than 20 coming to tell us their children went to Nigeria and are yet to return," an officer said.

They just managed to secure the safe return of Ndjouli Ngoundou Josiane, who went through similar ordeals.

The Consul General said he felt sorry, when the mother of one, came crying, begging for help. Hitherto, the woman had received a video of her child seemingly assaulted. The assailants promised to kill her if money wasn't sent to them. They were requesting millions of Francs CFA.

The same Consulate established the fact that those involved are victims of a scam network made up of both Cameroonians and Nigerians. 

"We have managed to rescue a few yet many are still held hostage. Those guys once called us that 20 were at the borders and needed transportation to return home, but we knew it was a scam. They just needed the money to be sent. we are working very judiciously with local government to track down perpetrators," the Consular Officer said. 

On the day Michelle was rescued by immigration police, over a hundred others were rescued alongside. They were kept at the refugee camp for three days before deportation. 

The Nigerian police equally arrested two of the group leaders same day. Before Michelle and co, 80 others are reported to have been rescued in like operations. However, traffickers are not giving up in recruiting more victims.

HumAngle reports that in February this year, the Ogun State Police Command apprehended some immigrants from Cameroon and Cote d’Ivoire who claimed to be independent representatives of QNET without valid travel documents. The Nigerian Immigration Service deported them along with 18 Cameroonians arrested in Makurdi, Benue state. 

Nigerian Consular Officer Douala

 

 

 

Modus Operandi 

Trafficking people who fall for the job scams follows a certain script, according to victims, and one most active rescuer. Nigeria-based entrepreneur of Cameroonian origin, Rouben Tamba Nyepgang, said it usually starts with a fraudulent job offer from companies allegedly based in Nigeria. 

Once hooked, the victim is made to travel to Nigeria. He/she is asked to get money enough to pay transportation since the employer will provide accommodation and other welfare. Victims only find out the destination has changed after they have reached Nigeria. They are taken to an unknown destination where the nightmare begins.

In the case of Penka Michel, who left Yaounde for Nigeria, he only learned that he would need to call his family in Cameroon to send the requested 700,000 FCFA for proper contract documentation so the acclaimed job slot would not be given to another person. Two days later, Michel’s parents sent the money. 

In an investigation, Nigeria-based media outlet, HumAngle journalist Adejumo Kabir wrote, Michel was taken to an abandoned school building where many other victims were held hostage. 

“It’s a large house with a large fence. They asked us to call people and lobby them for a job offer. They locked people in different rooms to call friends and family in Cameroon to come and work in Nigeria. If you refuse, you are threatened and abused. I saw more than 50 people locked together with me in the same compound,” Michel disclosed.

She further recounted that: “There were more boys in the compound as the fraudsters hung marker boards on the wall, teaching victims how to convince more people from their countries. They told us that’s the only way to make back the money they dubiously collected from us”.

Some victims are made to pretend they have fallen sick and are in need of urgent medical operation, a video is taken of the victim as though medically attended to by supposed doctor, then the family will be called to send money for medical attention. Eucharia whose niece is still held in Nigeria explained that the girl sent voice notes requesting the family to send 6,500,000 FCFA additional balance to what she said was spent as hospital bills. 

The chance to run away diminishes with every step of the way. Victims have reported wanting to escape but were too scared or did not know how and from whom to seek help. Other threats include being sold off for organ harvesting and thrown into a cold room. 

After several exhortation from his family members, Ngwa is said to have managed to call his uncle, informing his family back home to forget about him.

"He told me he was not sure to make it out alive, that we should forget about him and stop sending money…," the uncle recounted. This was after they had sent the whooping sum totaling 3,000,000 FCFA to the scammer. 

Intriguing enough, the numbers used to send the money belongs to users registered with telecommunications company based in Cameroon. Consular Officer, revealed when traced, the users appear to be residing in Yaounde and another in Douala.

 

More political will can end it

Rouben Tamba Nyepgang who said he has helped rescue over five trafficked victims, told this reporter that the way the syndicates work on victims is almost like a brainwashing programme or some sort of hypnosis 

“You can’t say that [brainwashing] has not happened to them in some way, shape or form. That they decided it was okay, they can leave everything behind and come with verification if this is real or not. I mean, with all the population Nigeria has, why don't they offer jobs to their citizens first?" he questioned.

In a phone interview, Tamba seemed to be displeased with the lack of political will from both countries to resolve the issue.

"If the governments want to, it will end right now, but I don't get it. I have been working tirelessly as a Cameroonian in Nigeria each time I hear there is a soul in distress," he added, noting that “we have to worry first about their safety!”. 

His last successful rescue story, he revealed the parents of the girl, fueled his car and with the help of the Federal police, they were were able to track where the girl was held hostage. 

As parents and victims are waiting for the day of freedom, the Nigerian Consular Officer in Douala said he has sent a dispatch to appropriate quarters and investigations are still ongoing to tract down the ring of scammers.

 

This work was produced as a result of a grant provided by the Investigative Reporting Workshop for Journalists in Cameroon project, implemented by the Cameroon Association of English-Speaking Journalists (CAMASEJ) and funded by U.S. Embassy Yaounde.

 

 

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