Lured online, sold for $5,000: How Nigerian youths are trapped in Asia’s cyber-slave camps (1)

Sabiu, a Nigerian youth from Borno State, found himself trapped in a cybercrime camp in Southeast Asia after being promised a job in Laos. His passport was taken away and his savings were stolen, leaving him in the hands of armed guards who forced him to scam strangers online. Sabiu endured months of survival, sleeping on bus station benches and selling marijuana, barely making enough to afford a plate of noodles.

He attempted suicide once but only suffered diarrhea. Sabiu's journey began with a scholarship to study engineering in China, which he refused to return to after discovering the scholarship only covered one year. He then worked as an English teacher and cargo inspector in Guangzhou, but his student visa prohibited him from working legally in China.

Desperate, he met a Chinese businessman named Wang Xu, who offered him a job as a telecom representative in Laos. Sabiu, despite his misgivings, accepted the offer as the job seemed legitimate. Traffickers now target intelligent youths with IT skills, and the Southeast Asian route offers a more lucrative opportunity for them compared to domestic servitude in the Middle East.