'Dem recruit my children into trafficking scam - I join police hunt to find dem'

Foday Musa dey calm as e dey listen to di last voice note e receive from im son.

Di voice note na 76 seconds and di young man wey dey inside dey sound desperate. E dey cry dey beg for im papa help.

"E dey hard to hear, to hear im voice dey hurt me," na so Musa tell BBC Africa Eye, wey get exclusive access to police unit wey dey help am search for two of im children wey fall victim to scammers.

Na for February 2024 dem recruit Musa 24 years old son and di 18 years old daughter with five odas from dia remote village for Faranah region of Central Guinea. Di agent promise dem work abroad.

Di jobs no work out and di recruiters turn out to be human traffickers. Dem take di group across di border into Sierra Leone and hold dem captive.

"My heart dey broken, I no fit stop to dey cry. If you look inside my eyes, you go see di pains," na so Musa tok.

Global policing agency Interpol pick up im case for Guinea and ask dia unit for Sierra Leone to help. So last August, Musa travel go Makeni for central Sierra Leone to go find dem.

Human trafficking scam wey dem dey call QNET dey lure thousands of pipo across West Africa.

Na for Hong Kong dem establish di scam, QNET na legitimate wellness and lifestyle company wey dey allow pipo to sign up and buy dia products and sell dem online.

Di business don face some criticism - however for West Africa, criminal gangs dey use di name as front for dia illegal activities.

Traffickers dey target pipo wit promise of work opportunities for places like US, Canada, Dubai and Europe, dey ask dem to pay large amount of money for administrative cost bifor dem go start di jobs.

Once dem pay, dem go traffic dem to anoda kontri and tell dem say dem go travel abroad only if dem recruit more pipo into di scheme.

Yet even wen dem bring in family and friends di jobs no go still show.

QNET get plenti campaign billboards across di region wit big adverts dey condemn scam like "QNET against Scams" and di company don reject di allegations say dem dey linked to human trafficking.

Musa and im extended family don pay di traffickers $25,000 (£19,000). Dis include di joining fees and extra money to use bring im children home. To travel to Sierra Leone na im last hope.

Mahmoud Conteh, wey be head of di investigation for anti-kidnapping unit of Interpol for Sierra Leone police say di case na top priority for im unit dat time.

"E dey veri easy for di traffickers to manoeuvre across our borders for di illegal crossing points," na so im tell BBC.

Wen Conteh get tip-off say dem dey hold large number of young pipo for one location for Makeni, Musa join di police to raid di place wit hope say e go find im children.

Dem keep clothes and bags for floor, na ontop dia dem dey sleep. Like 10 to 15 pipo dey sleep for one room dia.

Interpol carry evribodi inside di property and even find some wey dey as young as 14 years wey dey live dia.

"Plenti of dem from Guinea, na only one from Sierra Leone. Odas from Guinea," na so Conteh tok.

Dem no see Musa children dia, though one young man tok say di children bin dey dia last week - dis na first time dem dey sight di children for one year.

Dem bin carry all of dem go police station for screening bifor dem return 19 of dem back home to Guinea.

Police say dem don conduct more dan 20 raids like dis over di past one year, say dem rescue hundreds of victims of human trafficking.

Di traffickers don move some of di victims across di border but for 23 years old Aminata wey from Sierra Leone (we change her name to hide her real identity) dem traffic her inside her own kontri.

Aminata tell BBC say na her friend introduce am to di pipo wey dey claim to be representative of QNET for middle of 2024.

She pass her interview and dem tell am say she go do one course bifor she go fly to US for further study and work. But she gatz pay $1000 to join di scheme.

Onto say dem believe say e dey legit, her family give her di money dem bin plan to use send her go college.

"Wen dem first recruit you, dem go feed you, take care of you, but as time dey go, dem go stop," na so she tell BBC. She add say na dis time she go extra mile to survive.

"You go sell your body and sleep wit men to get money - so you go fit take care of your body,"

Aminata say dem tell am say if she want travel say she gatz recruit oda pipo into di scheme.

To make dis happun, di traffickers give her international phone number so dat wen she call pipo e go look like she don already travel abroad.

"Dem go carry you go airport, and you go dress well like you want travel, Dem go give you passport give you fake travel papers" na so she explain.

"Dem go take your fotos so you fit send am to your family and friends."

Aminata manage to recruit six friends and relatives to join di scheme, and still dey hope say di job for US go work out, but e no work.

"E pain me onto say dem waste dia money, and dem suffer sake of me."

Na for Freetown outskirts of Sierra Leone Capital dem hold am for about one year bifor e clear for her eyes say di job no go ever show.

Wen Aminata fail to recruit more pesins, e come be like she no dey of any use to di traffickers, so wen she try to escape dem no stop am.

To return home afta evritin wey don happun kon dey hard her, especially as evribodi feel say she don dey leave abroad.

"I bin dey fear to go home" na so she tok.

"I bin tell my friends say I dey go abroad, I tell my family too di same tin. I dey tink of all di money dem bin give me to go dia."

Statistics of di number of victims of di dis kain labour scams no dey but constant reports for media for West Africa dey show gangs wey dey scam pipo wey believe say foreign jobs schemes dey real.

BBC join police for three days to do raid for Makeni and meet hundreds of young pipo wey dem traffic across di region from kontris like Burkina Faso, Guinea, Ivory Coast and Mali.

Police say dem don arrest total of 12 suspected traffickers.

But di reality be say dem don only succeed to prosecute only few of such cases successfully. Di authorities dey under-resourced for di region and dem dey often face serious battle to tackle such scams.

US State Department statistics show say since 2022 wey Sierra Leone enact anti-trafficking act for April 2025, dem don only get four trafficking convictions.

Musa neva still find im children and no get choice dan to return to Guinea witout dem for end of September.

Conteh from Interpol later tell BBC say di traffickers later release im children.

BBC find out say Musa daughter don return to Guinea but no gree return to di village and no want make dem interview her.

She neva contact her papa sake of di kain shame such victims dey face wen dis kain scam catch dem.

Nobodi know wia Musa son dey now.

Dia papa still dey desperate till now.

"Afta evritin wey don happun, I just want make dis tin dey ova, make I fit see my children again," na so Musa tok.

"We want make dem come back village now, I want make dem dey here wit me."

Additional reporting by Paul Myles, Chris Walter, Olivia Acland and Tamasin Ford