Africa’s second exodus:

Africa’s second exodus: African priest exposes a multi-million-dollar syndicate luring desperate youth to fight for Russia

Ngala Killian Chimtom,

Catholic World Report,Yaounde

When reports confirmed that thousands of young Africans had been lured into fighting for Russia in its war on Ukraine, the world reacted with shock and outrage. For Fr. Augustine Anwuchie, however, it was not a surprise, but the latest and most tragic manifestation of a deep-seated crisis he witnesses daily along the Sahara’s deadly migration routes.

Fr. Anwuchie, a Nigerian missionary who has spent five years in the Republic of Niger, describes this phenomenon as a “Second Exodus”—a wave of economic slavery driven by human trafficking and the false promise of a better life.

In an exclusive interview with CWR, Fr.Anwuchie exposes a multi-million-dollar syndicate stretching from sub-Saharan Africa to Europe, arguing that the recruitment of African youths for the Russian front is not an isolated incident, but a well-established pattern of exploitation.

“The news of young Africans recruited to fight for Russia didn’t come to me as a surprise,” the cleric tells CWR.

 “This is because many of our young people think that going to Europe and Asia is like fleeing from hell into paradise,” he says.

But the shift to the frontlines of the war in Ukraine is increasingly lethal.

Statistics are few and far between, but Ukraine has accused Russia of tricking more than 1700 Africans to join its war effort.

 “We clearly see that Russia is trying to drag African citizens into a deadly war,” said Ukrainian Foreign Minister, Andrii Sybiha during a February 25 meeting with the foreign minister of Ghana, Samuel Okudzeto Ablakwa.

“According to our data, there are currently over 1,780 citizens from the African continent fighting in the Russian army,” he added.

He said Russia has recruited people from 36 African countries to counter Ukraine’s military on the front lines.

Ablakwa concurred that Africans are being conned into the war, with fake promises of better paying jobs.

“They have no security background. They have no military background. They have not been ⁠trained,” Ablakwa said.

 “They were just lured and deceived ⁠and then put on the front lines.”

African Digital Democracy Observatory (ADDO)- a coalition of forensic research organizations said “thousands of African nationals have been drawn into Russia’s war in Ukraine, often through a calculated pipeline of deception and exploitation.”

In a February 20 report, ADDO quoted the   French Institute of International Relations (IFRI) as suggesting that there could be as many as 4000 Africans fighting for Russia in its war on Ukraine.

Citing data from Ukrainian authorities, ADDO reported that 42% of foreign fighters in the Russian military are killed within four months of service.

The “Second Exodus”

Fr.Anwuchie frames the crisis within a terrifying  historical context.  “I call it, as I described in one of my poems, ‘The Second Exodus.’ The first Exodus is the transatlantic slavery forced on our people against their will by strangers. The second exodus is this economic slavery, symbolized by human trafficking with its promise of greener pasture, ” the missionary tells CWR.

In his five years of work in Niger, Fr.Anwuchie has  seen the carcasses of dreams littered across the desert as African youths continue to engage on the perilous journey in search of ‘greener pasture.’

“I saw firsthand young Africans trooping through the Sahara from the cities of Maradi, Agadez, and Airlit in a dangerous and desperate journey,” he says He recalls rescuing a young man sold into slavery in Libya under the guise of a job in Europe, and helping a Nigerian woman imprisoned in Niger for drug trafficking after being used as a mule.

“These young people come to the parish to seek help,” he explains. “They come from Nigeria, Ivory Coast, Benin, Togo, Burkina Faso, Cameroon, Central African Republic, and as far as Liberia and Equatorial Guinea.”

The recruitment for the war in Ukraine, he argues, is merely the newest product in a trafficking marketplace that has long thrived on African instability.

“Those lured and trafficked to fight in the Russian-Ukraine war fall into a well-established pattern, rooted into a larger web of human trafficking ring that has always existed,” the cleric asserts.

Victims or mercenaries?

The narrative of the “deceived African youth” is a powerful one, but the priest has a more nuanced analysis of the situation. While acknowledging that many are genuinely hoodwinked, the missionary believes all those Africans who go abroad in search of a better life aren’t completely innocent.

“Yes, it is a form of modern Slavery,” he admits, referencing the false promises used to lure the desperate. “But sometimes, they know the full picture and consequences of their undertaking.”

He cites a specific, widely circulated video that complicates the narrative of pure victimhood. In the video, a Nigerian fighting for Russia, clad in military gear, curses Nigerian bloggers who reported his death. He taunts colleagues who claimed they were deceived, calling them “liars and criminals” who knew they were being recruited to fight in return for payment.

“He even claimed he is richer than theese bloggers… claiming that he is paid 30 million [Naira, approx. $20,000-$30,000 USD depending on exchange rates] every two weeks,” the missionary recounts.

“He cursed those who received this money and didn’t want to fight as ingrates and liars,” Fr. Anwuchie tells CWR.

“Their decision to travel to Russia was informed by desperation, quick money, and search for greener pastures,” the priest states.

Yet, “the alarm is being sounded everywhere against shady travel and migration deals,” the priest notes, and wonders why young people still choose “desperation over patience and prudence.”

“From this point, I can say they are not always victims and could bear some moral culpability,” Fr. Anwuchie tells CWR.

A symptom of Africa’s failed governance

The missionary argues that Russia’s recruitment efforts are merely a symptom of a far more profound sickness afflicting Africa: the abysmal state of governance across the Continent.

“This moment would have been an epoch for Africa to lead the world. With a vibrant young population, rich rare earth minerals, and expanse of large land and resources, Africa is positioned to take a center stage in global affairs,” he laments.

“Unfortunately, leaders that lack vision and sacrifice have turned the continent into a bazaar of chaos and instability,” Fr. Awunchie asserts.

“Our young people won’t be perishing in the Sahara Desert and being drowned in the Atlantic Ocean… if the problem of unemployment, hunger, security, and basic amenities are addressed,” he explains.

The missionary goes on to accuse wealthy nations of hypocrisy, claiming they prop up corrupt regimes that serve foreign interests while paying lip service to human rights.

“Wealthy nations claim to give billions of dollars in aid to African countries but prop up and support rogue and corrupt regimes that rig elections, scuttle democracy, and force themselves on African people,” the priest charges.

He points to the destabilizing influence of Chinese mining interests in the Sahel and the political machinations of France, the US, and the UK as justification for his claim.

“If they want a permanent solution to African economic woes, they should simply insist on free and fair elections and true democracy,” he argues.

The Role of the Church

With governments failing, the cleric calls for a radical shift in the approach of the African Church. He argues that the Church must move beyond “abstract theology” and the “prosperity gospel” that offers false hope, toward practical intervention.

“Sometimes, the Church becomes a puppet of the government instead of an agent of transformation and change,” he observes.

Drawing parallels to the collapse of the Roman Empire, where the Church stepped in to preserve knowledge and provide welfare, he advocates for a modern equivalent.

“The Church should also find a way to engage young people where the government has failed,” he argues.

He calls for an integration of skills acquisition centers within parish networks as a way of stemming the tide of migration.

“I am calling on the Church to integrate centers for skills acquisition like computer literacy, carpentry, painting, plumbing, fabrication of personal care products… with spiritual and moral formation.”

He says this would align with the Catholic doctrine of the “preferential option for the poor,” emphasizing that this means giving young people a purpose and a means to survive at home.

 “This will not only build spiritually sound youths but young people confident in themselves and patriotic about their country.”

The priest cautions youths against the narrative that their salvation lies abroad.

“My message to young Africans is that the global future belongs to them,” Fr.Anwunchie tells CWR, and urges young people to see the current conditions in Africa as “ temporary not permanent- a checkered moment in our history that will soon dissolve into transformation.”

He calls for a collective resolve to demand better governance and to build a continent where young men do not have to trade their lives for a paycheck in a foreign war.

“All this is possible if African youths should with one voice, make sacrifice and insist that the right things be done,” Fr.Anwuchie concludes.

Read original article