The Nigeria Police Force has arrested a 20-year-old Nigerian, Essien Emmanuel Akpama, at the Murtala Muhammed International Airport, Lagos, over an alleged international romance scam involving more than N1 billion.
The arrest was confirmed on Tuesday by the spokesperson of the Airport Police Command, Mohammed Adeola, who said Akpama was apprehended on Monday, January 5, by operatives of the anti-fraud unit while attempting to board a flight.
According to Adeola, the arrest followed months of intelligence-led surveillance based on credible information linking the suspect to multiple fraud cases.
Akpama is alleged to have defrauded several victims in the United States through romance scams and celebrity impersonation schemes, with total losses estimated at over one million US dollars.
“Preliminary investigations revealed that the suspect, who previously resided in Calabar, Cross River State, relocated to Lagos State on February 23, 2024, from where he coordinated and executed several fraudulent schemes,” Adeola said.
Police disclosed that one of the victims, a 47-year-old woman in the United States, was allegedly tricked into transferring one million dollars after the suspect claimed the money would be used to purchase a property in Florida to house orphans.
The funds were reportedly obtained through a cryptocurrency investment scheme known as “BullRun 2.0,” formerly called “4 Way Mirror Money.”
Adeola added that Akpama allegedly impersonated “a 60-year-old United Nations orthopaedic surgeon based in Nigeria,” claiming he needed encrypted communication devices, which he used as a pretext to extract additional funds from his victims.
The suspect is also accused of defrauding another US-based victim, a 70-year-old woman, of N25,709,400, approximately $18,000, through the purchase of gift cards and high-end electronic devices, including smartphones and laptops, which were shipped to Nigeria.
Items recovered from the suspect include a MacBook Pro 14-inch, an iPhone 17 Pro Max, two Google Pixel 10 Pro XL phones and one Google Pixel 10 Pro. The electronics are valued at N8,141,367.
Adeola said the case has been handed over to the Nigeria Police Force Special Fraud Unit for further investigation, adding that the suspect will be charged to court once investigations are concluded.
