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<p>By, Alhassan Bala</p><div class="jCzt5vIk" style="clear:both;float:left;width:100%;margin:0 0 20px 0;"><script async src="https://pagead2.googlesyndication.com/pagead/js/adsbygoogle.js"></script>

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<p>The silence is deafening. While South Africa and Kenya agitate loudly for the return of their citizens deceived into fighting Russia&#8217;s war in Ukraine, Nigeria remains conspicuously quiet about its own sons being used as cannon fodder on foreign battlefields.</p>
<p>In January 2026, Kenyan social media platforms were flooded with images of young Kenyans killed while fighting for Russia.</p>
<p>In South Africa, the issue turned to politics as an elite was accused of sending young South Africans to Russia to join the army and fight in Ukraine.</p><div class="zo7EL10u" style="clear:both;float:left;width:100%;margin:0 0 20px 0;"><script async src="https://pagead2.googlesyndication.com/pagead/js/adsbygoogle.js"></script>

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<p>However, the stories of the victims from Nigeria paint a horrific image, especially as among those faces was one that haunts the most: Anas Adam from Kano State, Nigeria. His story is not unique, but it demands to be told.</p>
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<p>On November 10, 2025, Anas boarded an Egypt Air flight from Lagos, telling friends he was traveling to Russia for business. Within days, the cheerful entrepreneur&#8217;s voice had changed to one of desperation. In a WhatsApp voice note, he pleaded with friends to pray for him that &#8220;things have changed,&#8221; he said cryptically. Soon after, his photograph appeared online, wearing a Russian army uniform.</p>
<p>Two months after, precisely on January 10, 2026, his family received news of his death not from Nigerian authorities, not from the Russian government, but from a Kenyan he had met in Russia.</p>
<p>He was not alone. Two others: Abubakar and a man named Tunde left Nigeria the same day. Another young man from Kano had already died on the frontlines. Records have shown that more are presently processing visas to Russia, some fully aware of what awaits them: the plan to join the army, while others have been hoodwinked with promises of scholarships or employment.</p>
<p>The Deception Machine</p>
<p>During a visit to Ukraine in June, 2024, I met prisoners of war from Ghana, Egypt, Somalia, and Togo; young Africans were lured to Russia through various schemes. Their testimonies revealed a pattern of systematic deception and exploitation.</p>
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<p>A Somali prisoner told me he was promised a Russian passport and received an advance of $20,000 deposited in a new Russian bank account. An Egyptian was given a choice: fight in Ukraine or complete his prison sentence in Russia. A Ghanaian who had applied for a scholarship found no academic program waiting but only a contract he signed without fully understanding, binding him to military service.</p>
<p>During that time there was no Nigerian captured or reported killed while fighting for Russia which made me think there were no Nigerians lured to join the Russian army but I was wrong as few weeks after some Nigerians were announced as prisoners of war, captured by Ukrainian forces.</p>
<p>This brazen deceit continues even in death. The agency that processed Anas&#8217;s trip operates from Kaduna State. Despite promises to visit his bereaved family, they have offered only excuses. There will be no compensation, no official acknowledgment, no dignity in his death.</p>
<p>Where Is Nigeria&#8217;s Voice?</p>
<p>Ghana has initiated discussions with Ukrainian authorities for the return of its citizens currently serving as prisoners of War. Authorities in Kenya and the media have raised alarm about their young people being exploited as mercenaries. South Africa and Kenya are demanding answers. Action is certainly coming.</p>
<p>Despite these efforts by theese African countries, there is still nothing coming out from Nigeria or its agencies like Nigerians in Diaspora Commission (NiDCom).</p>
<p>These young men are not statistics. They are sons, brothers, friends and are people with dreams who believed they were pursuing opportunities, not marching toward unmarked graves in a foreign war. They deserve better than to die unacknowledged, their families left without answers, compensation, or even the return of their remains.</p>
<p>During my time in Lviv and Kyiv, I experienced firsthand the terror of air raid sirens announcing imminent drones and missile attacks. I saw the reality of the war these young Africans are being fed into often without proper training, documentation, or legal protections regarding insurance and other rights. When I returned to Nigeria, I carried the trauma of those sirens with me. How much worse for those who never make it home?</p>
<p>A Call to Action</p>
<p>. The Nigerian government must break its silence. Our Ministry of Foreign Affairs should immediately:</p>
<p>. Investigate how many Nigerian citizens have been recruited into the Russian military?</p>
<p>. Demand accountability from recruitment agencies operating within our borders</p>
<p>. Engage with Ukrainian authorities to secure the return of any Nigerian prisoners of war</p>
<p>. Warn young Nigerians about these deceptive recruitment schemes</p>
<p>It does not stop there as civil society organisations, the media, and concerned citizens must amplify these stories. We cannot allow our young people to become invisible casualties in someone else&#8217;s war.</p>
<p>Anas Adam&#8217;s friends posted his pictures in Russian army uniform as a memorial. But memorials are not enough. His death, and the deaths of others like him, demand investigation, accountability, and action.</p>
<p>Who will speak for young Nigerians dying for Russia? If we do not raise our voices now, the answer may be: no one. And that silence will cost more young lives.</p>
<p>Alhassan Bala, OSINT specialist, Researcher writes this from Abuja</p>
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