Ukrainian forces have captured Balogun Ridwan, a Nigerian national who claims he was lured to Russia under the fraudulent promise of an engineering job only to be coerced into frontline combat. According to a report by UnitedMedia24, Ridwan was forced to sign a military contract written in Russian a language he does not understand while being denied the use of translation tools, stating, “The day we were signing the contract, I didn’t understand the language… I didn’t know they would use me.” Despite a chaotic 16-day training period where fellow recruits suffered medical emergencies, Ridwan was deployed to a Russian base where he eventually surrendered during a Ukrainian raid in January, debunking previous reports of his death in combat. Now in custody, Ridwan has issued a plea to President Bola Ahmed Tinubu for repatriation, maintaining, “The government of Russia grossly fooled me, turned me into a soldier, and sent me to war in Ukraine.”
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