Nigeria is the latest country to raise concerns about the fate of its citizens "illegally recruited to participate in armed conflicts abroad," as revelations continue to emerge in several African countries where men are being sent to war on behalf of Moscow.

Nigeria "expresses its deep concern over the alarming increase in the number of cases of Nigerian citizens being illegally recruited to participate in armed conflicts abroad," the Foreign Ministry said in a statement Sunday, without naming Russia.

"Recruited under false pretenses," Nigerians "were deployed to combat zones after being deceived," the ministry denounces, asking its missions abroad to "strengthen consular vigilance and provide timely advisory services to Nigerian nationals."

Revelations have been multiplying recently about Africans being forcibly recruited by Russia under false pretenses to fight on the Ukrainian front.

According to a report published last week by the investigative collective "All Eyes on Wagner", at least 36 Nigerians were recruited by the Russian army, five of whom died in combat.

Last week, an AFP investigation gathered testimonies from several Kenyans who fought in Ukraine and revealed the recruitment mechanisms in Kenya: the promise by a local agency of a well-paying job in Russia where they agree to go and where they sign under threat a contract in Cyrillic alphabet whose terms they do not understand, before being deployed to the front.

Kenyan Foreign Minister Musalia Mudavadi has planned a visit to Moscow in March to discuss this issue.

South African President Cyril Ramaphosa claimed last week that he had discussed with his Russian counterpart Vladimir Putin, during a telephone call, the "repatriation of South Africans fighting alongside Russian forces in Ukraine".

Accused of having participated in their recruitment by families of recruits, the daughter of former South African President Jacob Zuma, Duduzile Zuma-Sambudla, resigned from the South African parliament.

The phenomenon is also beginning to stir up Uganda, a country close to Russia which has so far avoided any criticism of Moscow, and where testimonies are beginning to pour in.

Kyiv said in November that it had identified at least 1,436 citizens from 36 African countries in the Russian ranks.