Ugandan authorities have apprehended a 17-year-old high school student on charges of trafficking 170 young people in a fraudulent job scheme. The arrest was made on 18 September in central Uganda, where the student had been orchestrating the operation.

According to the police, the student had arranged for 170 young individuals to stay at the residence of a 28-year-old woman while they awaited transportation to Nairobi, the capital of Kenya, where they had been promised job opportunities.

However, investigations have revealed that the entire trafficking scheme was a hoax. The Uganda Police Force issued a statement on Tuesday, stating, “Upon interrogation, he [the student] admitted that he wanted to extort money from the victims using the name of Humble Company in Kenya as a cover-up. There was no connection with the company, and the job advert for waiters, waitresses, coffee packers, and supermarket attendants in Kenya was fake.”

Reports from Uganda’s privately-owned Daily Monitor newspaper indicate that 98 of the victims had paid the student 100,000 Ugandan shillings ($26; £21) each, while the remaining victims had paid 50,000 shillings each.

The arrest sheds light on the issue of fraudulent job scams that prey on vulnerable individuals seeking employment opportunities. Authorities in Uganda are taking action to combat such schemes and protect the interests of job seekers who may fall victim to deceptive practices.