Another Nigerian reportedly conscripted into Russia’s ongoing war with Ukraine has been taken prisoner by Ukrainian forces.
According to Ukrainian media outlet UnitedMedia24, Balogun Ridwan, a Nigerian national, was lured to Russia under the pretense of an engineering job. Upon arrival, however, he was compelled to sign a contract with the Russian military—written entirely in Russian, a language he did not understand. Phones were confiscated, preventing him from translating the document.
“The day we were signing the contract, I didn’t understand the language. They didn’t allow us to use our phones to translate, so we signed our contracts. I told them already about my job. Maybe they were going to put me in my field. I didn’t know they would use me,” Ridwan reportedly said.
After a few weeks of military training, Ridwan was deployed to the frontline under harsh conditions. Ukrainian forces captured him during a raid on a Russian base in January, though the exact location was not disclosed. At the time, some reports suggested he had died in combat.
Ridwan’s case mirrors the tragic stories of other Nigerians, including Adam Anas, Akinlawon Tunde Quyuum, and Abugu Stanley Onyeka, who were allegedly deceived into joining Russian forces under the guise of civilian or security jobs and later lost their lives.
Ukrainian Military Intelligence recently confirmed that two more Nigerians, Hamzat Kolawole and Mbah Udoka, died on the frontlines while allegedly fighting for Russia.
The Nigerian Minister of Foreign Affairs, Yusuf Tuggar, has raised alarms over the increasing number of Nigerian citizens being illegally recruited into foreign conflicts, highlighting the urgent need for awareness and preventive measures.
