Ghana Says 400 Citizens Rescued From Trafficking Schemes Run Under QNET Name; 500 More Held in Cote d'Ivoire

Ghana's Minister of Foreign Affairs, Samuel Okudzeto Ablakwa, told Parliament on July 23, 2025, that the government has rescued and repatriated about 400 Ghanaians trafficked to Cote d'Ivoire, Nigeria, Benin and Togo since 2021 by fraudulent recruitment schemes operating under the QNET name. He said Ghana's missions in Nigeria had repatriated 202 people, 78 through Abuja and 124 through Lagos.

Responding to an urgent question in Parliament, Ablakwa said more than 500 Ghanaians, mostly between 20 and 40 years old, are believed to be held against their will in secluded locations in Abidjan, and that Ghana is working with Ivorian immigration authorities and Interpol to rescue them. Victims were lured with promises that their travel documents would be processed in a transit country for jobs in Europe, North America and Asia, and paid between 18,000 and 40,000 cedis, he said.

The minister said some ringleaders of the operations in Cote d'Ivoire are Ghanaians who were once victims themselves, that no arrests had yet been made in connection with that scheme, and that public awareness events with the National Commission for Civic Education would begin in September. QNET, which describes itself as a direct selling company, has said it does not offer jobs or visas, and on July 15 it signed an agreement with Ghana's Economic and Organised Crime Office to combat scams that misuse its name.