Femi Ashekun/
The Nigeria Police Force has arrested a 20-year-old man alleged to be behind an international romance and celebrity fraud scheme involving more than N1 billion.
The suspect, Essien Emmanuel Akpama, was arrested on January 5 by operatives of the Anti Fraud Unit of the Airport Police Command while attempting to board a flight out of Lagos.
Police said his age and the sheer scale of the alleged fraud have raised serious concerns about the growing sophistication of youth led cybercrime networks.
According to police findings, Akpama allegedly defrauded several victims in the United States of America of sums exceeding N1 billion, equivalent to over one million US dollars.
Investigations revealed that in 2024 alone, the suspect allegedly convinced a 47-year-old American woman to transfer one million dollars under the guise of purchasing property in Florida for an orphanage.
The funds were said to have been channelled through a cryptocurrency platform known as BullRun 2.0.
Police further disclosed that the same suspect also allegedly swindled a 70-year-old woman in the United States of N25.7 million, approximately 18,000 dollars, through the purchase of gift cards, expensive mobile phones and computer equipment shipped to Nigeria at his instruction.
Recovered items linked to the fraud include a MacBook Pro, an iPhone 17 Pro Max, and several high end Google Pixel devices valued at over N8.1 million.
Investigators said Akpama posed as a 60-year-old orthopaedic surgeon working with the United Nations in Nigeria, claiming the gadgets were needed for secure communication.
Preliminary investigations showed that the suspect relocated from Calabar in Cross River State to Lagos in February 2024, from where he allegedly coordinated multiple online scams targeting elderly and vulnerable victims abroad.
The Commissioner of Police, Airport Police Command, Ogunbode Olufunke, said the arrest underscores the Command’s determination to block airports from being used as escape routes by cybercriminals.
She stressed that intelligence driven operations would continue to dismantle fraud networks operating within Nigeria’s aviation environment.
The case has been transferred to the Nigeria Police Force Special Fraud Unit for further investigation, while the suspect is expected to be arraigned in court after the conclusion of inquiries.
0Related posts:
Lagos Owes $1.45 Billion Foreign Debt
Internal Security Dynamics and the Imperative of a New Policing Thought in Nigeria
Pomp as Nigeria Police Force Crowns DIG Adeleye Oyebade’s Career with Glory
2 Nigerians, Imam on List of 32 London Sex Offenders Jailed This Year
Buhari Delivers 2018 Budget of Consolidation to National Assembly
Experts Report Warn on Rising Mortgage Fraud