Ghanaian authorities on Tuesday repatriated 120 Nigerians arrested in a massive crackdown on Yahoo Boys hideouts in the country, coordinated by both local and international anti-graft agencies.

Sam George, Ghana’s minister of communications, announced the repatriation on X, posting a video showing them boarding the plane.

“My sincere gratitude goes to the @ghana_airforce and the @modghana for facilitating the repatriation of 120 Nigerian nationals who were arrested during #OperationCyberhunt,” Mr George said.

Mr George explained that a joint operation between U.S., UK, Ghana and Nigerian forces led to the arrests, adding, “The team is processing 8 other persons for prosecution, and Ghana under President @JDMahama will remain an unfavourable destination for cyber criminals.”

“This sting operation, led by the @CSAGhana in conjunction with other intelligence and security agencies locally and in the UK, Nigeria and the US, led to the rescue of the 120 persons who had been trafficked to Ghana and forced to work in these cybercrime setups,” Mr George said. 

According to the minister, authorities seized 136 mobile phones, 130 laptops, internet connection devices, four motor vehicles, one of which was stolen from Canada, and other digital equipment. 

The search team also recovered high-value items, including jewellery and ten (10) Nigerian passports.

U.S. authorities had earlier announced the arrest of 28 alleged fraudsters in Ghana and Nigeria in a crackdown on “transnational criminal scam networks operating from West Africa.”

FBI Director Kash Patel lauded the operation in West Africa, describing it as a “brilliant partnership with the Department of Justice and the private sector, across multiple African countries.”

The FBI czar said, “We arrested dozens of criminal actors, seized hundreds of devices, identified at least $11 million in potentially freezable funds, and truly saved lives.”