Several Nigerian youths who travelled to Southeast Asia in search of jobs reportedly ended up trapped in cyber-slave camps, where they were allegedly forced to carry out online scams under brutal conditions.

Victims in compounds in Myanmar and Cambodia were reportedly forced to operate romance scams, fake online stores and cryptocurrency fraud schemes. Some were allegedly beaten, electrocuted, imprisoned and subjected to strict financial targets.

One survivor, Offor, said workers were given monthly targets of about 300-thousand dollars per person and punished when they failed to meet them. He also alleged that detainees were locked in a small cage known as the “Dark Room” and repeatedly electrocuted.

Another survivor, Michael, said he was recruited through Instagram and forced to create fake female profiles for romance scams. He and other African detainees later secretly contacted organisations for help using a phone hidden inside a stitched pillow.

The Nigerian victims were eventually moved into Thailand, but some were convicted of illegal entry and detained in Bangkok. Survivors described the detention facility as overcrowded and worse than the camps they had escaped from.

Meanwhile, another Nigerian victim, Doyin, said he paid five-thousand dollars to secure his release from a Cambodian trafficking compound after spending 11 months there. He later returned to Nigeria heavily indebted and was arrested over money he had borrowed to secure his freedom.

The National Agency for the Prohibition of Trafficking in Persons, NAPTIP, said it had established a dedicated Cyber Crime Unit to tackle the emerging form of human trafficking. The agency also said it had stopped nearly 600 potential victims from being trafficked through airports and land borders within six months.

Experts warned that online recruitment was creating new opportunities for traffickers, with victims increasingly targeted through fake job offers designed around their skills and aspirations.