NEWS

In the aftermath of the devastating floods that swept through the Texas Hill Country in Texas in the United States, a tight-knit community is mourning the loss of at least 110 lives to flash flooding – including 27 at Camp Mystic, an all-girls summer camp situated along the Guadalupe River.

Camp Mystic bore the brunt of the floodwaters, but the region is home to several popular sleepaway camps and youth facilities serving families from across Texas, including Hill Country Youth Ranch. Tony Gallucci, who has lived in the area for more than 40 years, works there.

“We’re gonna have some clearing [of debris like fallen trees] to do, we’ve got a log jam and that kind of stuff,” Gallucci said. “We do have one road [in their facilities] that buckled; it’ll have to be repaired.”

The ranch sits uphill from the river, unlike Camp Mystic, where 2.4 metres (8ft) of water filled cabins with sleeping campers in the early morning hours of July 4, and the Guadalupe River rose more than six metres (20ft) in two hours. Among the dead is camp director Dick Eastland, who perished trying to save the girls from the rushing floodwaters.

Flash flooding is a recurring threat in this part of Texas. The Hill Country, including Kerr County where the camp is located, has thin soil and limestone bedrock that limits rain from soaking into the ground, funnelling it quickly into rivers and creeks. Storms fuelled by gulf moisture and clashing air masses often drop several inches of rain in a short span, overwhelming the terrain.

That was the case last week, as deep tropical moisture in the wake of Tropical Storm Barry, which had just struck southern Mexico, fuelled intense rainfall. The Guadalupe River has flooded catastrophically in the past, with notable incidents in 1978, 1987 and in 2002, raising longstanding concerns about the vulnerability of riverside camps. Because this risk is well known, the latest tragedy has renewed scrutiny over what went wrong – and whether it could have been prevented.

A policy problem

Earlier this year, the Department of Government Efficiency (DOGE) cut 600 positions at the National Weather Service (NWS) – the agency tasked with forecasting storms and issuing warnings. As a result, many local offices lack the staff needed to adequately inform the public. In Houston, 30 percent of NWS positions remain vacant.

“Accurate weather forecasting helps avoid fatal disasters. There are consequences to Trump’s brainless attacks on public workers, like meteorologists.” Connecticut Senator Chris Murphy said in a post on X.

However, both the San Antonio and San Angelo NWS field offices, which oversee forecasting for the region that includes Kerr County, were adequately staffed at the time of the flash floods, and the office actually had more staff than usual, with five people on duty instead of the typical two.

Murphy’s office did not respond to Al Jazeera’s request for comment.

The NWS issued a flash flood watch at 12:41am Central Time (05:41 GMT), warning that “excessive runoff may result in flooding of rivers, creeks, streams, and other low-lying and flood-prone locations. Creeks and streams may rise out of their banks”.  As conditions worsened, a flash flood warning was issued at 1:14 am, and a flash flood emergency was declared after 5:30am local time.

Still, Tom Fahy, legislative director for the National Weather Service Employees Organization, told The New York Times that the San Angelo office remains understaffed overall, missing a forecaster, a meteorologist-in-charge, and a senior hydrologist. Fahy did not respond to Al Jazeera’s request for comment.

The recent job cuts by DOGE could hinder the ability of NWS offices nationwide to predict and respond to future severe weather events. There are additional reductions to the NWS included in the tax bill signed into law by President Donald Trump last week.

The legislation rescinds funding for the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration (NOAA), which oversees the NWS. Those changes were drafted by the Senate Committee on Commerce, Science, and Transportation, chaired by Texas Senator Ted Cruz.

“Only a shameless and soulless partisan hack would tie the One, Big, Beautiful Bill to the Texas floods. The funds rescinded had nothing to do with weather forecasting, but were instead used for ‘heat awareness’ campaigns, ‘Green Collar jobs,’ creating a climate resilience plan based on an Indian tribe’s ‘traditional knowledge’ of weather, building a new visitor’s center at an aquarium, and ‘citizen science’ around fishing. None of the rescinded funding was obligated for any existing operations or forecasting activity,” Macarena Martinez, communications director for Senator Cruz, said in a statement.

The bill actually includes funding for additional “Weather Observing Systems” but only specifies those to be set up at airports. The legislation also maintains current funding levels for the NWS.

“After getting a 41 percent increase in its budget in the last decade, NOAA now spends roughly $3bn annually on weather forecasting, research, and related infrastructure. Even the Biden administration had proposed to cancel millions in future radar research, in part because much of the project has already been completed and would explain why, after nearly three years, the funds remained unspent. There’s simply more productive ways to be faithful stewards of public money and improve weather forecasts than continuing to overfund every possible NOAA account,” Martinez added.

The Biden administration proposed cuts to NOAA in March 2024. The Trump administration’s fiscal year 2026 proposal would cut funding for climate research, which would cut the development of new weather forecasting technologies that would, contrary to Cruz’s claims, impact weather forecasts.

The White House did not respond to Al Jazeera’s request for comment.

Poor flood infrastructure

Texas has increased funding for flood-related infrastructure projects in recent years, but those efforts have largely been reactionary rather than preventive.

“The loss of life is tragic. While we can’t predict every storm, we do everything we can to prepare. Texas is strong and takes every disaster seriously,” Coalter Baker, head of the Gulf Coast Protection District (GCPD), a state-funded agency responsible for coastal resiliency planning, told Al Jazeera.

The Texas Gulf Coast has experienced some of the most devastating flooding events in US history. After Hurricane Harvey – a storm in August 2017 so intense that the NWS had to add new colours to its rainfall maps – the state created the Texas Infrastructure Fund. Since the fund’s launch, it has allocated roughly $669m in funding, though only one project was located in Kerr County.

“After Tropical Storm Allison in 2001, we invested in flood prevention that still protects us today. Hurricane Ike in 2008 led to the Coastal Texas Project – the largest US Army Corps of Engineers effort ever – to defend our coast and communities. And after Hurricane Harvey in 2017, we created a first-of-its-kind flood infrastructure fund to reduce future risk. We’ll keep working – federal, state, and local – to protect lives, homes, and our economy,” said Baker, who previously served in the Trump administration and worked in the Texas Office of State-Federal Relations alongside Governor Greg Abbott.

But in this part of Texas – more than 480 kilometres (300 miles) inland – flood infrastructure improvements haven’t materialised.  According to a new Houston Chronicle investigation, Kerr County, where the affected camp is located, requested state funding three times to improve its flash flood warning system. The state rejected its requests.

Instead, the state deferred the responsibility to the county. Kerr County Judge Rob Kelly told The New York Times taxpayers would oppose providing local funding because of the cost.

In April, the Upper Guadalupe River Authority (UGRA), a state-funded government agency, granted a more than $72,000 contract to develop a flood warning system despite concerns being raised almost a decade ago. The UGRA did not respond to our request for comment.

This comes as the Texas state house failed to pass a bill this year that would have improved the state’s emergency communication infrastructure. Among those who voted against the bill was Representative Wes Virdell, who represents Kerr County. Virdell did not respond to our request for comment.

Following the recent floods, Texas Lieutenant Governor Dan Patrick said the state will now pay to install a flash flood warning system, despite the state previously denying such requests.

“That’s going to be one of the issues that we begin to address in less than two weeks in the state legislature. We’re going to address every aspect of this storm to make sure that we’re going to have in place the systems that are needed to prevent deadly flooding events like this in the future.” Governor Greg Abbott said in a news conference on Tuesday.

Abbott’s office did not reply to Al Jazeera’s request for further details.

When asked about the current system, Judge Kelly told reporters at a Friday news conference, “We do not have a warning system.”

“This is the most dangerous river valley in the United States, and we deal with floods on a regular basis. When it rains, we get water. We had no reason to believe that this was going to be anything like what’s happened here. None whatsoever.”

Kelly did not respond to Al Jazeera’s request for comment.

Texas did not release its first statewide flood plan until last year.

United States President Donald Trump has continued to publish letters announcing individualised tariff hikes for foreign trading partners.

But on Wednesday, one of those letters was different from the rest.

While most of the letters are virtually identical, denouncing trade relationships that are “far from reciprocal”, Trump’s letter to Brazilian President Luiz Inacio Lula da Silva took a decidedly more personal — and more confrontational — approach.

“Due in part to Brazil’s insidious attacks on Free Elections, and the fundamental Free Speech Rights of Americans”, Trump wrote that he would be charging Brazil an extra 50-percent tax on any goods it exports to the US, separate from existing “sectoral tariffs”.

“Please understand that the 50% number is far less than what is needed to have the Level Playing Field we must have with your Country,” Trump added. “And it is necessary to have this to rectify the grave injustices of the current regime.”

The letter marked the biggest attack yet in Trump’s escalating feud with Lula, as he seeks to pressure Brazil to drop criminal charges against a fellow far-right leader, Jair Bolsonaro.

Known as the “Trump of the Tropics”, Bolsonaro, a former army captain, led Brazil for a single term, from 2019 to 2023.

Like Trump, Bolsonaro refused to concede his election loss to a left-wing rival. Like Trump, Bolsonaro also raised questions about the accuracy of the results, including by voicing doubts about electronic voting machines.

And like Trump, Bolsonaro has faced legal repercussions, with court cases weighing whether he could be criminally liable for alleged actions he took to overturn his defeat.

In Bolsonaro’s case, the election in question took place in October 2022, against the current president, Lula. The results were narrow, but Lula edged Bolsonaro out in a run-off race, earning 50.9 percent of the vote.

Still, Bolsonaro did not acknowledge his defeat and instead filed a legal complaint to contest the election results.

Meanwhile, his followers attacked police headquarters, blocked highways, and even stormed government buildings in the capital, Brasilia, in an apparent attempt to spark a military backlash against Lula.

Prosecutors, meanwhile, have accused Bolsonaro of conspiring with allies behind the scenes to stage a coup d’etat, one that might have seen Supreme Court justices arrested and a new election called.

According to the indictment, Bolsonaro, as the outgoing president, considered provoking these changes by calling a “state of siege”, which would have empowered the military to take action.

One of the other possibilities reportedly discussed was poisoning Lula.

Bolsonaro and 33 others were charged in February, and the ex-president’s case is ongoing before the Brazilian Supreme Court.

The charges came as the result of a federal police investigation published in November 2024, which recommended a criminal trial. Bolsonaro, however, has denied any wrongdoing and has framed the trial as a politically motivated attack.

Trump himself has faced two criminal indictments – one on the state level, the other federal – for allegedly seeking to overturn his loss in the 2020 election. He, too, called those cases attempts to derail his political career.

In recent days, Trump has highlighted what he sees as parallels between their cases. On July 7, he wrote on social media that he empathised with what was happening to Bolsonaro: “It happened to me, times 10.”

He reprised that theme in Wednesday’s letter, announcing the dramatic increase in tariffs against Brazil.

“The way that Brazil has treated former President Bolsonaro, a Highly Respected Leader throughout the World during his term, including by the United states, is an international disgrace,” Trump said.

“This trial should not be taking place,” he added. “It is a Witch Hunt that should end IMMEDIATELY!”

In addition to ramping up tariffs against Brazil, Trump revealed in his letter that he had directed US Trade Representative Jamieson Greer to investigate Brazil for unfair practices under the Trade Act of 1974.

This is not the first time that Trump has lashed out at Brazil, though. In February, the Trump Media and Technology Group filed a Florida lawsuit against Brazilian Supreme Court Justice Alexandre de Moraes, arguing that his decisions curtailed online freedom of speech in the US.

De Moraes had also overseen the investigation into Bolsonaro’s alleged coup attempt, and he is a target of criticism among many on the far right.

While Trump’s tariff letter contained the standard language alleging that the US’s trading relationship with Brazil was “very unfair”, the US actually enjoys a trade surplus with the South American country.

According to the Office of the US Trade Representative, in 2024, the US imported a total of $42.3bn from Brazil. But that was dwarfed by the amount it exported to the country: $49.7bn.

In short, Brazil’s purchases from the US amounted to about $7.4bn more than US purchases from Brazil.

Still, Trump has cited uneven trade relationships as the motivation for his tariffs, though he has also used them to influence other countries’ policies, particularly with regards to immigration, digital services and transnational drug smuggling.

On Wednesday, Bolsonaro took to social media to once again proclaim his innocence. In a separate case, he was barred from holding public office in Brazil for a period of eight years.

“Jair Bolsonaro is persecuted because he remains alive in the popular consciousness,” the ex-president wrote in the third person. “Even out of power, he remains the most remembered name – and the most feared. That’s why they try to annihilate him politically, morally, and judicially.”

He also reposted a message from Trump himself: “Leave the Great Former President of Brazil alone. WITCH HUNT!!!”

Lula, meanwhile, responded to Trump’s previous tariff threats on Monday by saying, “The world has changed. We don’t want an emperor.”

A Fabian Ruiz double helps Paris Saint-Germain thump Real Madrid to set up FIFA Club World Cup final against Chelsea.

Fabian Ruiz scored twice, Ousmane Dembele tallied a goal and an assist, and Paris Saint-Germain eliminated Real Madrid as well as Kylian Mbappe from the FIFA Club World Cup by sailing to a 4-0 semifinal win.

PSG built a 3-0 lead in 24 minutes, deflating the heavily pro-Madrid crowd on Wednesday. Goncalo Ramos, who subbed on for Dembele early in the second half, added a goal for good measure in the 87th minute.

Gianluigi Donnarumma parried one early shot by Mbappe and finished with two saves, but the PSG defence was otherwise unbothered en route to their fifth clean sheet in six tournament matches.

Wednesday marked Mbappe’s first time facing PSG, for whom he scored 256 goals over seven years before joining Madrid a year ago. After coming on as a substitute in the past two matches, Mbappe started up front alongside Gonzalo Garcia, but was held off the scoresheet.

Trent Alexander-Arnold was out of Real Madrid’s squad, reportedly due to a training injury.

Coming off its first European title, PSG will play for the championship on Sunday.

Real fared no better than Inter Milan, overrun by PSG 5-0 in the Champions League final. The 15-time European champions looked sluggish after travelling to Florida for training between games, and PSG had 76.5 percent possession in the first half.

A crowd of 77,542 was at MetLife Stadium on a scorching day, with a temperature of 33 degrees Celsius (91 degrees Fahrenheit) at kickoff and humidity that made it feel like 38C (101F).

PSG’s attack wasted no time, however, forcing Courtois to make two difficult saves during the first five minutes. But in the sixth, Dembele robbed Raul Asencio of the ball in the centre of the box, tapped it away from Courtois’s diving reach and set up Ruiz for a one-timer into the back of the net.

Dembele made Madrid pay again when he closed in on Antonio Rudiger, who proceeded to whiff on a pass attempt in the defensive half. Dembele bolted away and beat Courtois in the bottom left corner for a 2-0 lead less than nine minutes in.

After Mbappe’s third shot of the day was blocked, PSG ran out on a clinical counterattack. Achraf Hakimi sprung free down the right side on a give-and-go with Dembele, and Hakimi’s cross set up Ruiz’s second goal in the 24th minute.

Paris Saint-Germain will face Chelsea on Sunday in the final. Chelsea won the title in 2021, while PSG will try to become the first team from France to capture the trophy.

PSG has earned $88.4m to $113.8m for reaching the final, the amount depending on a participation fee.

Remaining fixtures (all times BST): France v Wales (9 July, 20:00) England v Wales & Netherlands v France (both 13 July, 20:00)

England, who won the tournament in 2022, will advance if they beat tournament debutants Wales no matter the result in the Netherlands’ match with France.

If the Lionesses fail to beat Wales, they may still reach the quarter-finals if other results go their way.

Wales will reach the knockouts if they beat France on Wednesday and England on Friday.

But, if they were to lose to France on Wednesday, they’re as good as out. That’s because they’d need to beat England by at least seven goals because of their unfavourable head-to-head goal difference in matches involving themselves, the defending champions and the Netherlands.

France will reach the quarter-finals if they beat Wales and avoid defeat against the Netherlands.

The Netherlands will advance if they beat France on Sunday and England don’t beat Wales.

If England, France and the Netherlands all finish on six points, the Netherlands are likely to be the side that misses out on head-to-head results because of their heavy defeat by England.

At this tournament, teams level on points are separated by head-to-head record. And if three teams are level on points, their head-to-head record is calculated as if they were in a mini-league.

At least 10 people were killed after a portion of the Gambhira Bridge collapsed into the Mahisagar River in Gujarat, India. Footage shows a large gap in the bridge and vehicles dangling over its edge as rescue crews searched for victims.

Trump administration says it is targeting Francesca Albanese for encouraging ICC war crime prosecution against Israel’s Netanyahu.

Washington, DC – The administration of United States President Donald Trump has imposed sanctions on United Nations expert Francesca Albanese over her documentation of Israel’s abuses against Palestinians during its war on Gaza.

US Secretary of State Marco Rubio announced the penalties on Wednesday, accusing Albanese of waging a “campaign of political and economic warfare against the United States and Israel”.

Albanese, who serves as UN special rapporteur on the occupied Palestinian territory, has been a leading global voice in calling for action to end Israel’s human rights violations.

Israel and its supporters have been rebuking Albanese and calling for her to be removed from her UN position for years.

Earlier on Wednesday, she called out European governments for allowing Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu – who is wanted by the International Criminal Court (ICC) for war crime charges in Gaza – to use their airspace while travelling.

“Italian, French and Greek citizens deserve to know that every political action violating the [international] legal order, weakens and endangers all of them. And all of us,” Albanese wrote in a social media post.

Rubio cited Albanese’s push for the prosecution of Israeli officials at the ICC as the legal basis for the sanctions.

Trump had issued an executive order in February to impose penalties on ICC officials involved in “targeting” Israel.

Last month, the Trump administration sanctioned four ICC judges.

On Wednesday, Rubio accused Albanese of anti-Semitism.

“That bias has been apparent across the span of her career, including recommending that the ICC, without a legitimate basis, issue arrest warrants targeting Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu and former Defense Minister Yoav Gallant,” he said.

The ICC charged Netanyahu and Gallant with crimes against humanity and war crimes in Gaza for depriving Palestinians in the enclave of “objects indispensable to their survival, including food, water, and medicine”.

Rubio also highlighted a recent report by Albanese that documented the role of international companies, including US firms, in the Israeli assault on Gaza, which she describes as a genocide.

“We will not tolerate these campaigns of political and economic warfare, which threaten our national interests and sovereignty,” the top US diplomat said.

Trump’s ICC decree freezes the assets of targeted individuals in the US and bans them and their immediate family members from entering the country.

Nancy Okail, head of the Center for International Policy (CIP) think tank, decried the sanctions against Albanese as “devastating”.

“Sanctioning a UN expert gives the signal that the United States is acting like dictatorships and rogue states,” Okail told Al Jazeera.

Over the past 21 months, Israel’s US-backed campaign in Gaza has levelled most of the territory and killed at least 57,575 Palestinians, according to local health officials.

Trump is hosting leaders from Gabon, Guinea-Bissau, Liberia, Mauritania and Senegal on Wednesday for with discussions to focus on business opportunities.

United States President Donald Trump is meeting with leaders from five African nations as he escalates a trade war that could impact developing countries reliant on commerce with the US.

On Wednesday, Trump hosted leaders from Gabon, Guinea-Bissau, Liberia, Mauritania, and Senegal at the White House for talks and a working lunch, with discussions expected to centre on business opportunities, according to a White House official.

During the lunch, Trump said they hail from “very vibrant places with very valuable land, great minerals, great oil deposits and wonderful people”.

“There’s a lot of anger on your continent. We’ve been able to solve a lot of it,” Trump said, pointing to a recent peace agreement leaders of the Democratic Republic of the Congo and Rwanda recently signed at the White House.

The leaders are expected to discuss key areas of cooperation, including economic development, security, infrastructure and democracy, according to statements from the White House and Liberia. Trump said the five countries were unlikely to face US tariffs.

President Trump Participates in a Multilateral Lunch with African Leaders https://t.co/nkcx56xF74

— The White House (@WhiteHouse) July 9, 2025

Trump is expected to soon announce dates for a broader summit with African leaders, possibly in September around the time of the United Nations General Assembly.

This week’s mini-summit marks the latest effort by successive administrations to counter perceptions that the US has neglected a continent where China has increasingly made economic inroads.

Trade, investment in focus

Wednesday’s meeting is expected to focus on economics.

During the meeting, Gabon’s President Brice Oligui Nguema told Trump his country was open to investment and wants to see its raw mineral resources processed locally, but needs large investments in energy to do so.

“We are not poor countries. We are rich countries when it comes to raw materials. But we need partners to support us and help us develop those resources with win-win partnerships,” Nguema said at the meeting.

Senegal’s President Bassirou Diomaye Faye suggested his country also offered investment opportunities for tourism, including a golf course.

Faye said the course would only be a six-hour flight from New York and suggested Trump could visit to show off his skills.

The US International Development Finance Corporation said earlier in the day it would provide project development funding for the Banio Potash Mine in Mayumba, Gabon, helping Gabon reduce its dependence on imports.

“DFC’s efforts not only benefit the countries and communities where they invest but also advance US economic interests by opening new markets, strengthening trade relationships, and promoting a more secure and prosperous global economy,” said DFC head of investments Conor Coleman.

The five nations whose leaders are meeting Trump represent a small fraction of US-Africa trade, but they possess untapped natural resources.

Senegal and Mauritania are important transit and origin countries when it comes to migration, and along with Guinea-Bissau, are struggling to contain drug trafficking, both issues of concern for the Trump administration.

However, African Union officials question how Africa could deepen trade ties with the US under what they called “abusive” tariff proposals and visa restrictions largely targeting travellers from Africa.

The top US diplomat for Africa, Ambassador Troy Fitrell, has dismissed allegations of unfair US trade practices.

Earlier this month, US authorities dissolved the US Agency for International Development and said it was no longer following what they called “a charity-based foreign aid model” and instead will focus on partnerships with nations that show “both the ability and willingness to help themselves”.

Those cuts could result in more than 14 million additional deaths by 2030, research published by The Lancet medical journal showed last week.

Italian top seed Jannik Sinner did not let an elbow injury hamper his performance as he beat American opponent Ben Shelton to reach the Wimbledon semi-finals.

Sinner, 23, who wore a sleeve on his right elbow, occasionally shook out his arm in a 7-6 (7-2) 6-4 6-4 victory but the injury did not hold him back.

The three-time Grand Slam champion had hurt himself after falling in the early part of Monday’s fourth-round match against Grigor Dimitrov, who led by two sets before retiring injured himself.

Sinner made the most of his reprieve with a dominant display against American 10th seed Shelton, who saved two match points on his own serve before succumbing to the third.

“I’m very happy with this performance,” said Sinner, who has reached at least the semi-finals in the past four majors.

“When you are in a match with a lot of tension you try not to think about [any pain]. It has improved a lot from yesterday to today.

“It is no excuse. Three is no better stage to play tennis and I showed this today.”

Sinner’s serve speed returned towards its normal pace and he was not broken, while his returning game was crisp and clinical.

To reach his first Wimbledon final, the world number one will have to beat 24-time major champion Novak Djokovic or Italian 22nd seed Flavio Cobolli in Friday’s semi-final.

More to follow.

After Zahra Usman* quit a job she described as toxic in a law firm that overworked and underpaid her, affecting her mental health, she found herself searching for a job for over a year. She applied for every opportunity she was qualified for, and that was how she came across one that promised a role at the Food and Agriculture Organisation (FAO) in the United Nations in 2024. 

“My friend sent the flyer to me. It looked like a legit job application. The job had different roles, including legal assistants, and that was the role I applied for,” she says, recalling having no doubts at first, as she submitted her cover letter and curriculum vitae (CV)  to the provided email address. 

She did not receive an acknowledgement email and eventually forgot about it, as it was common not to hear back after applying for a job. However, in April 2024, they sent an email claiming they were recruiting again. Since she had already applied for the other role, they said they reached out because she met the requirements for the current position. 

“They asked me to confirm my interest, reply to the email before the deadline, and send in an updated CV,” she recalled. They even offered an estimated salary of $2,ooo and links to calculate the tax requirements. They also said that due to the high level of applications, they couldn’t reply to individual queries. 

After sending the CV, she didn’t hear back from them until May, when they informed her that she had gotten the job. They asked her to return the signed appointment letter, do a BSAFE assessment (a mandatory online security awareness training for all UN personnel), and submit the certificate. It took her almost the whole day to process the certificate, which required taking short courses and tests for each segment. The final test required answering 80 per cent of the questions correctly. Even though the process was stressful, Zahra still ensured she did it on time. 

They also requested a Quantifiable Emotional Intelligence, Racial and National Diversity, Inclusion, and Validation Certificate (QREDIV). Still, when she followed the link, she discovered a payment of $99, which was about ₦160,000 at the time. At first, she wanted to borrow the money from a friend, but she became suspicious. 

Employment scams were ranked as the second most serious type globally in 2023. Scammers exploit the economic crisis and high unemployment rates by promising lucrative opportunities with reputable companies. This includes fake job postings, phishing emails, and fraudulent job advertisements, many of which go unreported in the country. There is a lack of proper structures in place to trace and address these cases, and feelings of shame often prevent victims from speaking out. Additionally, some of these scams involve fake interviews designed to lure victims into situations where they could be kidnapped for ransom demands from their families.

“I entered the third-party website, and the whole thing made me suspicious. That was why I started to conduct proper research, to be sure, as it felt weird that the UN was expecting me to pay for any course. I searched for James Hall, who signed off all the emails on LinkedIn, but I couldn’t find him, and that was when I started to get more suspicious,” Zahra said. 

The 29-year-old trusted her gut and decided to dig even deeper. She searched on Google to find out if the UN requires payment for courses, which led her to the Naija forum, an online platform where Nigerians shared their experiences. The search also led her to a disclaimer by the UN that they don’t charge a fee at any stage of the application process.

“Everything seemed so genuine. I even tried to run the links on ChatGPT, which confirmed they were legitimate. If people feel stupid for falling for this, they should know that it is not their fault; everything initially seemed legit. I later discovered that the first test I did was a requirement for UN workers,” Zahra added. She is currently job-searching while working at a friend’s law firm. Her near-scam experience has made her more vigilant; she now double-checks every opportunity before applying.

A successful extortion 

In 2024, Fadila Mahmoud*’s cousin called to tell her about a job opportunity at Mentor Mothers, an initiative working towards preventing mother-to-child HIV transmission, and she was ecstatic to apply.

The initiative was under the Network of People Living with HIV/AIDS in Nigeria (NEPWHAN), which has an office at the Kaduna Ministry of Health in the country’s northwestern region. The only catch was that the job ‘required’ a payment before processing. She and her sister didn’t hesitate to raise the money. 

“I called the man supposed to be in charge, and he assured me of a job opportunity. All I had to do was pay ₦150,000 in instalments, and the job was mine,” she recounted. However, the requirements didn’t end there; a percentage of their salary was expected every month. 

Before starting the job, she and her sister paid an initial fee of ₦75,000. They were then expected to pay the balance within the first three months. A monthly deduction of ₦15,000 from their salary was also required. This included ₦5,000 labelled as ‘miscellaneous’ fees, which was deposited into the team leader’s account, and ₦10,000 that went to a coworker’s account, allegedly the sister of the person who referred them for the job. This arrangement made it difficult to identify the actual beneficiaries of these payments.

HumAngle examined the bank statements and confirmed records of the transfers that were made within those months. 

Nigeria, which is said to have one of the highest misery indices globally, has seen an unemployment and inflation rate from 30.5 per cent in the third quarter of 2023 to 36.9 per cent in the first quarter of 2024. This situation is a serious concern, especially considering that the World Bank estimated in 2023 that 87 million Nigerians lived below the poverty line. Additionally, the removal of the fuel subsidy and the resultant cost of living crisis have further exacerbated this crisis.

“Since we needed the job, we agreed to the terms and got the job after a month of payment,” the 23-year-old explained. They signed a contract for the job, but it said nothing about the payment arrangements.

Her responsibility was to orient HIV-positive pregnant women and guide them to the hospital to obtain their medication during community outreach programmes. Each team is assigned to a specific hospital. “We attend antenatal days, sometimes twice a week,” she told HumAngle.

Things changed, however, when the company announced a salary increase from ₦75,000 to  ₦120,000. The man who offered them the job demanded that they increase the monthly payment to  ₦20,000, making a total of ₦25,000 monthly. HumAngle saw a record of the text that communicated this to her. 

“The work was supposed to be contract-based; they assured us that we would be retained for two and a half years and our contract would be renewed for another two and a half years.” 

Seven months later, however, Fadila said the head of the Kaduna Mentor Mothers branch called five of them to his office and explained that he had been contacted by the Abuja headquarters that the project they were hired for had been ‘put on hold’ for now. His explanation did not convince them. He also didn’t reference the monetary arrangement, suggesting he knew nothing about the unofficial contract. 

“We thought that what they said was not true, and they had other reasons for doing so. At first, we suspected they might want to sell the job slots to others,” she said. Fadila also claimed three of the five people whose contracts were ‘terminated’ had purchased their job slots. 

However, HumAngle found that the reason was unlikely. Mentor Mothers had to downsize as a result of funding cuts, according to a senior employee, who asked to be anonymous. HumAngle contacted the NEPWHAN Coordinator in Kaduna State, Bala Sama’ila, for his response to the allegations. We followed up for over three weeks but received no tangible response from him. When we reached out to inform him that we would go ahead with the story, he threatened a lawsuit, distancing himself from the allegations, without offering any explanation as promised.

He also asked HumAngle to share the identities of our sources with him, a request that goes against journalistic ethics and the principle of source confidentiality. “As far as I am concerned, I want to distance myself from all the allegations. Finally, I am not aware of the allegations,” he said in a snappy message sent to HumAngle. 

The system is complex

A conversation with a colleague also made Fadila realise that there could be more at play, as she learned that the job slots were ideally intended for HIV patients rather than healthy workers.

Mentor Mothers was initially designed as an empowerment programme for women living with HIV to provide them with the knowledge and skills necessary to educate and emotionally support other mothers living with the virus.

HIV patients experience economic hardships due to medical expenses, loss of income, and an inability to work. A study conducted in Oyo State, South West Nigeria, reveals that female HIV patients are more likely to lose employment opportunities, with a ratio of 24.3 per cent of women affected compared to 9.5 per cent of men. Assigning jobs intended for HIV patients to healthy individuals further exacerbates this disparity.

“Normally, they would tell you not to speak about the monetary arrangement to others to keep it ‘under wraps’ and one of the coworkers even claimed to my sister that the money she was paying them was higher than what we were paying,” Fadila explained. 

She felt betrayed and deceived over her job loss. However, she is not the only one being scammed by a seemingly legitimate job.

Habiba Shehu* also faced a similar experience with Mentor Mothers. She paid for a slot, but it did not lead to a job offer. It took several months before she received her money back. At 28 years old, she was waiting for her National Youth Service posting in 2024 when she received a job offer.

“My cousin called me about a job opportunity that her in-laws had sent her. However, they mentioned that I needed to pay ₦75,000 for it. I borrowed the money from others and managed to gather it on time,” Habiba told HumAngle. 

The man assured her about the job, providing the requirements he had previously given to Fadila and her sister. They sent her an appointment letter shortly afterwards, with the man claiming that Habiba had taken someone else’s slot because of the high demand. However, after three months, he called her to say that while others had gotten the job, she was unfortunately no longer on the list.

“I asked for a refund of my money. He asked for a one-week extension and then two more weeks. But when he did send in the money, he sent only half of it and asked for more time,” she said.

After he began to evade them, they resorted to calling and threatening him. He became scared when they threatened to take him to court and refunded the full amount. Currently, Habiba is completing her NYSC, and she hopes the labour market will be much kinder by the time she finishes.

Eunice Thompson, a corporate lawyer and expert in HR and compliance, sheds light on the legal implications of these schemes. 

“The Advanced Fee Fraud Act states that everyone who collects money for something they can’t deliver can be jailed for up to seven years,” Eunice noted that people can sue the individuals and organisations responsible for this scam. The ICPC Act for public service jobs also counts asking someone to pay for a job slot as an act of corruption, which can lead to prosecution. But this also means that the people paying for the jobs are also taking part in the illegal system.” 

The lawyer adds that people who have been scammed can get justice by gathering evidence and acting swiftly. She encourages people to collect documentation of every conversation they have with the person, including screenshots and other forms of documenting interactions.

“There are Ministries of Labour and employment offices in many states where these issues can be reported. If money has been collected, it becomes a criminal case, which can involve the police and the EFCC.  In case you need legal aid in terms of resources, the Legal Aid Council of Nigeria or National Human Rights Commission or other nonprofit organisations can help,” she explained. 

Hope beyond the shores  

Haruna Shuaibu*, who has done jobs throughout his adult life, is another victim of the exploitative system. 

After graduating from secondary school in Zamfara, things stagnated for him. He didn’t have the means to continue his education and was desperate for better opportunities. His desperation made him move to Abuja, the Federal Capital Territory, hoping to get a better chance at life. However, things didn’t go as planned, and he had to work other menial jobs to survive. 

His first business in this new city was borehole repair, and he also sold carrots on the side. Eventually, these jobs were not sustainable enough to keep him in town,  so he relocated to Kaduna State in 2012. With little to sustain himself, he started to hawk sugarcane in a wheelbarrow, but soon after, his brother-in-law employed him to work as a tiler under his business,  where they got contracts to fix tiles in people’s homes. 

“I worked with him for three years, but realised in 2015 that I could enter the tricycle business (locally known as Keke Napep). This has been the job that has sustained me for many years, during which I was able to start my own family,” Haruna said. 

For the past few years, Haruna has used 23 tricycles, most of which he rented from others. He pays the owner ₦3,000 from his daily proceeds in his current arrangement. He also manages the tricycle’s daily maintenance while the owner handles significant repairs. 

This job does come with its challenges. The tricycle is constantly at risk of being stolen, as it has happened to him before. However, this business has also introduced Haruna to what he believes could be a pathway to a better life.

A kind encounter with a passenger led to his employment as a driver for a family. This connection is what introduced him to the possibility of leaving the country. 

“I worked with them for a few years. Before I learned that her husband helps process job opportunities for people abroad, I had received another job offer,” he recalls. Haruna had never considered leaving for greener pastures. Still, after an incident rendered his tricycle unusable, preventing him from working for almost four months in 2023, he had to explore other possibilities.

“My friend encouraged me to consider leaving with him as he tried to get opportunities out of the country. Someone connected us with a woman who was said to have connections. We were made to process our international passports and undergo a health screening,” he recounts. 

However, the plan fell through due to financial constraints; the agents expected them to pay almost a million naira. They tried negotiating the terms,  hoping to pay when they reached there, but they disagreed.

The opportunity was said to be in Baghdad. The woman collected their passports for a while, claiming she would help them process the jobs to the best of her abilities. “When we discovered that it wasn’t going to work out because the woman herself was leaving the country, we simply collected our passports back, ” he says.

Along the way, Haruna received other opportunities to work in Libya but refused after hearing the horror stories about such trips. Human traffickers have been operating in Libya since 2014, facilitating the smuggling of undocumented migrants across the Mediterranean Sea and causing many to lose their lives. This situation frightened Haruna, making him wary of such opportunities. Shortly after, the woman he worked for learned about his attempts to travel. She then informed him that her husband had connections with individuals who handled these opportunities.

“They said that the problem was that you have to pay first,  due to previous bad experiences,  where people switched jobs and secretly left the company they were assigned to,  without paying their debts to the people who processed the opportunities. This had forced them to start a strict payment before service policy,” he tells HumAngle.

The husband in question later contacted him in 2024 and said they had an opening for a bike delivery man in a factory in Qatar. They thought he would be a perfect match for the job since it was similar to the one he was already doing. But he still wasn’t financially able to pay for it. 

Haruna has been saving up for the next opportunity. He recently started the procedure for a potential job in Saudi Arabia, but he is invited to an interview in Lagos State before everything is set. This opportunity required a ₦500,000 processing fee, which he managed to save up. 

The term “Japa,” which comes from the Yoruba language and means “to flee,” is commonly used to describe the mass outmigration of Nigerians seeking better opportunities abroad. Research indicates that various socio-cultural, political, and religious factors, such as high unemployment rates, insecurity, and poverty, fuel the Japa phenomenon. This trend has resulted in a significant loss of talented individuals. For example, Nigeria’s medical system has experienced a substantial drain of doctors, leading to a troubling doctor-to-patient ratio of approximately one doctor for every 30,000 patients in certain regions.

“I am not sure which kind of job it is, but I know it involves working in a factory,” Haruna says. There weren’t a lot of details given to him about the job in question; the agents claimed that he would get more information when he went for the interview and medical screening in Lagos. The person he is communicating with informs him in Hausa that his potential job is at a ‘waya’ factory, which could translate to either a phone factory or a factory dealing with cables and wires, leaving him unsure of what the job description entails.

The job opportunity is said to last two years. “In those two years, you are expected to pay the company a certain agreed-upon amount from your salary. When the time expires, you can choose whether you want to leave or stay,” he explains. The details of the payment plan have not yet been communicated to him. 

The company informed them that their potential monthly salary may be up to ₦800,000. There are many risks to irregular migration such as kidnaping and theft, exploitation and abuse, physical abuse, rape, torture, deportation from the countries, and enslavement.  

HumAngle found that most of the supposed opportunities are for drivers or delivery men, who usually go to men, with occasional opportunities more suitable for women. The agents, who mostly work as middlemen, require a down payment before travelling, with a few exceptions. 

Bashir Abba*, an agent between job seekers and companies, claimed, “There are many challenges. Sometimes, we get opportunities for people who refuse to pay back after getting the job. Other times, people ask for favours, and when we get them opportunities, they disappear and leave us to bear the cost.” This, among other reasons, is why he is reconsidering leaving that career path.

For Haruna, the reasons for leaving are massive.  “I have many reasons for wanting to leave. I wouldn’t even go anywhere if I got tangible start-up money for my business. I would rather stay here and start a business instead. I am pretty sure there would be something I can do.” 

Haruna expects to travel before the year ends, hoping to make enough money there. However, he is still sceptical, mainly due to the unclear details. He hopes that if he does travel, he will get a chance to change his financial status in Nigeria when he returns. 

A BBC documentary released in April highlighted how scammers steal thousands from unsuspecting people under the guise of job opportunities and fail to deliver on those opportunities. Kelvin Alaneme, a popular Nigerian medical practitioner, who claimed to have helped 5,000 migrants relocate to the UK, was at the centre of this scheme. One of his victims claimed to have paid him £14,000 (₦29 million), after which the job didn’t materialise.   

Payment made, refund denied

The extortionate job slot system thrives because many young Nigerians are desperate, as in the case of Ahmad Hassan*, who expected to get a job immediately after graduating from Ahmadu Bello University in 2015, especially with his skill set. However, 10 years later, like many other young Nigerians, he struggles to find footing. 

Ahmad found himself constantly filling out job applications and delivering his CV to many who promised to help, but his hopes were crushed continuously as none of these opportunities materialised. “I had to find other ways to survive, so I ventured into selling clothing and jewellery. But that business soon went under as people always took things on credit,” he laments. The situation made it difficult for the 34-year-old architect to sustain his business. With few other opportunities in the saturated architectural field, Ahmad believed that buying a job slot or opportunity was his best alternative. 

In 2022,  his friend connected him to someone who was said to have a connection to the government and was offering a Central Bank job. Before that, Ahmad had tried to buy a Prisons Service job slot for ₦200,000 in 2021. He didn’t get the job, nor did he get his money back. He said the CBN opportunity came from a more ‘trustworthy’ source, and the total amount to be paid was ₦3.5 million with an initial deposit of ₦1.5 million, after which a balance of ₦2 million would be paid upon documentation.

“I did my due diligence by making inquiries about the process, people involved, duration of time it takes for the appointment to be ready and any other thing I was aware of.  After I was satisfied with my inquiry and the assurance I got from those involved in finding a government civil service job, I made the payment.”

The initial contract also specified that payments would be refunded three months after they were made if the job did not succeed. However, Ahmad’s hopes were once again dashed when the opportunity he struggled to get money for didn’t manifest. He was left to keep asking for his money back, but the people kept requesting time extensions to source the funds. 

Recruitment fraud in Nigeria has evolved into a multi-million naira industry with thousands falling victim to the schemes, leading to financial losses and mental distress. Earlier this year, the Economic and Financial Crimes Commission (EFCC) arrested a scammer who posed as a staff member at a house and defrauded job seekers of an estimated ₦22 million. Besides fake job advertisements, these scammers request an upfront payment or pose as agents from reputable organisations. 

Eunice, the lawyer, explained that selling jobs is illegal especially government jobs which violates the Civil Service Rules, ICPC Act, as well as the Nigerian Constitution, and people who are caught can either be jailed, released from service or forced to pay money back- and as for private sectors, this also violates the Labor Act, the Advance Fee Fraud Act, and the Anti-money Laundering Act. She believes that the lack of access to information on the dangers of buying jobs, as well as the desperation that pushes many job seekers to make that decision, further perpetuates the circle.  

“I got ₦700,000 back in 2023,  and only got the rest back last year in two instalments, ₦500,000 and then later on ₦300,000 was returned to me. I was even among the lucky ones to get their money back, as some people got nothing in return,” Ahmad said.

Ahmad felt he had few options despite the challenges and risks, as other businesses he ventured into eventually failed for one reason or another. Sometimes, he gets the occasional architectural gigs that bring in some cash. Then, a friend informed him that there was an opening for a job with the National Drug Law Enforcement (NDLEA),  with an initial deposit of ₦100,000 required. However, even paying the money on time did not guarantee getting the job; he still struggles to get his money back. 

“They only refunded me ₦50,000 in 2023, and I still haven’t gotten the rest back. When you don’t have options, you have to crawl your way up, and I know people who got jobs in the Federal Inland Revenue Service (FIRS) and the Central Bank of Nigeria (CBN)  through this process,” he added.

Another challenge he encounters is age limitations, which are a barrier to opportunities for which he is qualified. In 2023, Nigerian senator Patrick Abba Moro called for the dismissal of age limits, which serve as a discriminatory factor in the employment system. This limit has led to desperate Nigerians falsifying birth dates to meet this criterion. Chapter 4, Section 4 (2) of the Nigerian Constitution states that all citizens have the right to be free from Discrimination. 

Ahmad has not given up on finding new business ventures or applying for job opportunities. He is not unwilling to try finding a job through this process, especially since he has seen it materialise for others, and other alternatives don’t seem to be working. 

Like Ahmad, who almost tore his pocket to pay for non-existent job slots,                                                    Linda Joseph can never forget the man who taught her mother for a few years in secondary school. Now, his identity has become the man who defrauded her family with a fake job offer at the Ikeja Airport, Lagos State, southwestern Nigeria. His history with her mother was likely why her parents trusted him and didn’t scrutinise his offer deeply.

Lagos is known as Nigeria’s commercial capital. Illustration: Akila Jibrin/HumAngle