Gautier Mignot, European Union (AU) ambassador to Nigeria
and ECOWAS, says Russia has been recruiting Nigerians and other Africans in its
war against Ukraine.
Mignot spoke on Tuesday during the Channels Television’s The
Morning Brief as the Russia-Ukraine war reaches its fourth year.
Earlier this month, Abubakar Adamu, a Nigerian man, appealed
to the federal government to urgently move for his repatriation from Russia
over claims that he was lured into the Russian army under the guise of
employment as a security guard.
Adamu’s legal representatives said he travelled to Moscow on
a tourist visa issued on October 16, 2025, by the Russian embassy in Abuja.
When he arrived in Russia, his travel documents were
reportedly confiscated and he was forced to sign enlistment papers written
entirely in Russian language, without an interpreter.
Adamu later discovered that he had been enlisted into the
Russian army.
Adamu’s appeal came as investigators uncovered dozens of
cases of Africans allegedly recruited by the Kremlin into the war.
Reacting to the reports, Mignot noted women have also been
caught in the reported shady deals.
“There is another important phenomenon which is impacting
Africa, which is recruitment of African men and women by Russia. Women to be
sent and work in military plants in Russia and men to be sent as cannon fodder
on the front. Of course they are being lured with job promises,” the envoy
said.
Mignot said the EU had received testimonies for “quite some
time” but noted that the validating global reports by civil society
organisations showed that the situation is “a growing phenomenon”.
“Russia is also running out of soldiers… and this is
extremely cruel sending these people, who have absolutely nothing to do with
this war, to die on the front,” Mignot said.
He added that some recruits have already been captured by
Ukrainian forces.
The Defence Intelligence of Ukraine had said it found bodies
of two Nigerians in its Luhansk region, who were allegedly fighting on Russia’s
side in the ongoing war.
The Nigerians identified as Hamzat Kazeem Kolawole, 42, and
Mbah Stephen Udoka, 38, died in late November 2025 — few months after joining
the Russian army.
Russia has denied the allegations, calling them unfounded.
However, Mignot noted that testimonies from African recruits
support the claims and said Russia’s denial reflects an unwillingness to stop
the practice.
Meanwhile, the federal government has warned citizens
against illegal recruitment into foreign armed conflicts, citing rising cases
of Nigerians allegedly being lured abroad under false pretences and forced into
combat roles.
The government said it is engaging domestic and
international partners to investigate the recruitment networks and raise public
awareness about the dangers of such schemes.
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