West Africans Lured To Burkina Faso Gold Mines In Human Trafficking Scam

Mustafa Ibrahim was in a financial bind. The 48-year-old was a welder in a suburb of Lagos, Nigeria, but business had been slow. One night in April 2024, Ibrahim returned home and went online, where he saw a WhatsApp video of an old friend who asked viewers to join him in Burkina Faso.

In the video, Ibrahim’s friend spoke...