Port Harcourt Travel Firm ‘Linked’ To Alleged Russian Army Recruitment, Firm Denies Involvement

A Port Harcourt-based travel agency, St. Fortunes Travels and Logistics, has been identified as a key recruitment hub allegedly linked to the enlistment of Nigerians into the Russian army.

The firm, established in December 2022 and reportedly run by Fortune Chimene Amaewhule, was accused in an investigative report of advertising Russian army enlistment on social media and billboards, promising quick benefits including citizenship and high salaries.

The agency was also said to have displayed Nigerian and Russian contact numbers and sustained campaigns targeting unemployed youths.

Reacting to the allegations, the Russian Ambassador to Nigeria, Andrey Podyolyshev, denied that Moscow was running any government-backed programme to recruit Nigerians for the Russia–Ukraine conflict.

Speaking in Abuja earlier this week, he said he was unaware of such activities and insisted that Russia had no involvement if such recruitment was taking place.

“If anybody has this information, we are ready to send it to Russian law enforcement authorities so they can investigate those cases,” he said.

Travel Firm Denies Involvement

Also responding to the allegations, Amaewhule denied that his company recruited Nigerians to fight as mercenaries.

According to Punch, Amaewhule acknowledged that his firm previously handled a Russia-related travel package but said it was discontinued after receiving credible information that some Nigerians were allegedly switching from legitimate work-related visas to enlist in the Russian army upon arrival.

According to him, recruiters enticed prospective enlistees with financial incentives, including promises of citizenship, a $30,000 signing bonus and weekly payments of about $3,000.

“Because of that, we had to stop,” he said.

Amaewhule maintained that his company’s package was not connected to the Russian military.

“It was for teaching, and even that was for Kazakhstan. The two countries are very close, and there is a strong demand for English teachers there,” he explained.

He added that aside from Kazakhstan, his firm had not taken clients directly to Russia and that no one was recruited before the package was suspended.

According to him, around the time the package was halted, some clients began requesting assistance to work with the Russian army, requests he said were declined.

The travel agent recounted a case involving a client who travelled to Kazakhstan through his firm and later contacted him about military recruitment opportunities.

“I told the woman we would never allow anyone to switch,” he said, noting that a family friend had referred the client.

Amaewhule said he appealed to the family to discourage the individual from enlisting in the military.

He added that he later gathered more details about the alleged recruitment pipeline through another client whose relatives in Qatar had moved to Russia.

“Through him, I began to understand the process, how they were approached and what was being offered,” he said.

Amaewhule acknowledged that some Nigerians who initially travelled to Kazakhstan on student or work visas later crossed into Russia to join the military.

He suggested that this development may have created the impression that his company was directly involved in recruitment.