How Nigeria, others are reacting to deceptive recruitment

For many young Nigerians, an overseas job advertisement represents a way out of unemployment and economic hardship. But behind some lucrative offers lies a darker reality: contracts, military barracks and, in some cases, the battlefields of Russia’s war in Ukraine. Gilbert Ekugbe takes a cursory look at how African governments are responding to this growing menace.

A well-paid job abroad. Good accommodation. Travel assistance. Perhaps enough money to change a family’s fortunes back home. For young Nigerians accustomed to the language of japa, the popular expression for leaving the country in search of better opportunities, such offers can be difficult to ignore.

But for some who followed the trail from social media advertisements and recruitment agents to Russia, the promise of civilian employment reportedly ended somewhere they never expected: military facilities and, in some cases, the front lines of a foreign war.

That is the growing concern surrounding the alleged deceptive recruitment of Africans for jobs linked to Russia’s military and defence-industrial complex.

For Nigeria, the issue presents a difficult question: How can the country protect its citizens from deceptive overseas recruitment without restricting their right to travel and seek opportunities abroad?

Job offer changes

For Adedayo Adewale, the warning signs emerged only after he had already travelled. In a documentary circulating online, Adewale recounted how what appeared to be an employment opportunity began to take an unexpected turn.

He said he was handed three large documents. “They gave me three big documents. I was like, ah, they gave me three documents.”

But among the paperwork was something he had not anticipated: a military contract. “One is a military contract that I’m signing. I’m trying to sign a military contract.”

The discovery immediately raised questions about what he was actually being asked to accept.

For someone travelling abroad in search of civilian employment, signing a contract is normally part of the process. But when the document potentially commits an individual to military service, understanding exactly what is being signed becomes a matter of enormous consequence.

Adewale’s experience offers a glimpse into the uncertainty described by some foreign recruits who travelled to Russia believing they were taking up civilian jobs. What begins as an ordinary employment opportunity can, they say, end in circumstances they never anticipated.

The lure

The attraction is not difficult to understand. Across Nigeria and other African countries, recruiters can advertise jobs in construction, logistics, driving, security and technical services.

The salaries attached to some of these offers can appear extraordinary when compared with what applicants might earn at home.

For a young person without stable employment, a promise of thousands of dollars a month can mean more than a pay cheque. It can mean school fees for younger siblings, financial support for parents, a house, or the possibility of escaping years of economic uncertainty.

Nigeria’s youthful population makes the attraction even greater. With millions of young Nigerians competing for employment opportunities, the prospect of earning significantly more abroad can be powerful.

This is where the recruitment problem becomes particularly dangerous. An attractive advertisement can conceal the identity of the actual employer, the nature of the work or the obligations attached to the contract.

And by the time the truth becomes clear, the recruit may already be thousands of kilometres from home.

To the battlefield

In Kenya, Miri Duncan Shege thought he had found his opportunity. Unemployed and living with his family, he was offered a job as a truck driver in Russia. The promised salary was about $2,500 a month, considerably more than he expected to earn from most jobs available to him in Kenya.

The opportunity came through a friend working as a truck driver in Qatar, who had used a recruitment agent in Nairobi. Shege trusted the referral and travelled to Russia in late 2025. But the job he encountered was not the one he had expected.

Instead of a truck, he said, he met a Russian handler and was taken to a military barracks. He received military training and was eventually deployed to the front line in Ukraine.

The civilian job he had travelled for had, according to his account, become military service. His priorities changed almost immediately. He was no longer thinking about earning money. He was thinking about survival and escape.

Shege eventually resorted to deception himself, pretending to suffer a mental breakdown in an attempt to convince his handlers that he was no longer fit for service.

He eventually escaped Russia and returned to Kenya in January 2026. Since then, he has warned other Africans about recruitment offers promising lucrative civilian employment in Russia.

His account is one of several that have intensified concerns about the methods allegedly being used to recruit foreign nationals.

Concern beyond Africa

The issue has attracted international attention. The European Union has condemned what it describes as Russia’s deceptive recruitment of third-country nationals, including Africans and Latin Americans, to fight in the war against Ukraine and to work in Russia’s military industry.

At a United Nations meeting on prisoners of war, civilian detainees and foreign fighters, EU Ambassador Hedda Samson said more than 3,500 foreign nationals had been independently confirmed to have died fighting for Russia.

The EU has said it will continue engaging affected countries and Ukraine on the issue. But for African governments, confronting the problem presents a more complicated challenge.

Nigeria’s dilemma

For Nigeria, the difficulty lies partly in the fact that citizens have the right to travel. The government has said it cannot simply prevent Nigerians from travelling to Russia when they possess valid travel documents and have obtained visas from Russian authorities.

Speaking with The PUNCH, the Public Relations Officer of the Nigerians in Diaspora Commission, Abdur-Rahmaan Balogun, said the Nigerian government was not involved in recruiting Nigerians for jobs in Russia or other conflict-affected countries.

He stressed that Nigerians have the right to decide where they want to travel or live, describing migration as a fundamental human right. But that freedom, he warned, must be accompanied by caution.

“Nigerians should thoroughly investigate employment offers before travelling, particularly when the destination is affected by conflict,” he advised.

He specifically warned citizens against travelling to troubled countries such as Russia and Sudan if doing so could put their lives at risk or damage Nigeria’s international reputation.

Nigerian authorities, including the Ministry of Foreign Affairs, have previously issued warnings against citizens becoming involved in such activities.

Officials have also engaged ambassadors of countries concerned, Balogun said, although the diplomats reportedly denied direct responsibility for recruiting Nigerians.

The dilemma is straightforward: once a Nigerian has valid travel documents and a visa, the government cannot simply prevent that person from leaving the country.

Kenya tightens net

In July, Kenya’s foreign minister said about 200 Kenyans were known to be fighting for Russia and acknowledged that recruitment networks remained active.

The revelation followed the case of a young Kenyan athlete who was captured in Ukraine and said he had been tricked into joining the Russian army. The Kenyan government has since begun investigating recruitment agencies suspected of being involved.

Some licences have already been suspended. “Some agencies lure young people with promises of large payments. The government is tracking those agencies linked to this fraud,” Sylvanus Osoro, Kenya’s parliamentary majority chief whip, told the BBC.

Of about 130 registered recruitment agencies in Kenya, around five had been flagged, with three already suspended and two others under investigation, Osoro said.

Parliament’s Defence and Foreign Relations Committee also took up the matter, summoning agencies to explain how they recruited young people, what information they provided and how contracts were presented.

But for families whose relatives ended up fighting for Russian forces, government action cannot come quickly enough. They have criticised what they see as a slow response and said they feel helpless as they wait for their relatives to return.

Asked what was being done to repatriate those allegedly lured into combat roles, Osoro said the process had to follow diplomatic channels. “A contract is signed willingly, even if they were not aware,” he said. “It can only be handled diplomatically. Those engagements are happening.”

He said all known cases had been mapped and that officials were verifying the circumstances under which contracts had been signed. But he declined to confirm how many Kenyans might have died.

New legislation is also being drafted to tighten controls on recruitment agencies, including stricter scrutiny before licences are issued and clearer distinctions between categories of employment.

Where does consent begin?

Professor of International Relations at Lagos State University, Dr Dapo Thomas, in a telephone interview with THE PUNCH, said there is no general rule of international law preventing Russia from recruiting foreigners into its military.

Foreign nationals can voluntarily enlist, particularly when financial incentives are involved, he explained. The difficulty arises when voluntary enlistment becomes deception or coercion.

Thomas acknowledged reports of Africans who alleged that they were deceived or forced into joining the Russian military. But he cautioned against assuming that every such case automatically establishes a wider pattern.

Some foreign recruits, he noted, have publicly described their enlistment as voluntary and expressed satisfaction with their pay.

For Thomas, evidence is therefore critical. “A claim of deception must be supported by facts showing that the individual was misled, coerced or otherwise prevented from giving genuine consent,” he said.

That distinction matters. Not every foreign national serving in Russia’s military necessarily entered under the same circumstances.

What exactly did they sign?

Adewale’s experience raises a deceptively simple question: What exactly did the recruit believe he was signing? The presence of a military contract can completely change the meaning of an overseas job offer.

A person who knowingly signs up for military service has made one decision. Someone who believes he is accepting civilian employment and only later discovers that the paperwork involves military obligations has encountered something fundamentally different.

That is why the language and content of employment contracts matter. Applicants need to know who their employer is, what duties they are accepting, where they will work, and whether their role has any military or defence-related component.

They also need to understand every document they are asked to sign. The fine print that can change a life The stories emerging from Russia offer a wider lesson for Nigerians seeking opportunities abroad.

An attractive salary is not proof that a job is legitimate. Neither is a recruiter recommended by a friend.

Before travelling, prospective migrants need to establish the identity of the employer, verify the recruitment agency independently, confirm the job description, and carefully examine every contract.

Any employment offer involving security, military, defence or conflict-related activities should be treated with particular caution. For governments, the challenge is to protect citizens without taking away their right to migrate.

For young Nigerians, however, the first line of protection may begin much earlier, before the visa, before the airport and before the plane leaves Lagos.

Because what looks like a ticket to a better life can, in the wrong circumstances, become a journey from a job advertisement in Lagos to a military barracks thousands of kilometres away.