The Nigeria Police Force, Airport Police Command, has arrested a suspected international romance and celebrity fraudster allegedly involved in scams exceeding ₦1 billion, targeting victims in the United States.
Confirming the report, Police Public Relations Officer Airport Police Command, Lagos ASP Mohammed Adeola said the suspect, Essien Emmanuel Akpama, 20, was apprehended on January 5, 2026, by operatives of the Anti-Fraud Unit while attempting to board a flight out of Lagos. His arrest followed months of intelligence-led surveillance based on credible information, as part of ongoing efforts to prevent Nigerian airports from being used as escape routes for transnational criminals.
Preliminary investigations revealed that Akpama, who previously resided in Calabar, Cross River State, relocated to Lagos on February 23, 2024, from where he allegedly coordinated multiple fraudulent schemes. In one case in 2024, he reportedly deceived a 47-year-old female victim in the United States into transferring $1 million under the guise of purchasing property in Florida for an orphanage. The funds were solicited through a cryptocurrency platform known as “BullRun 2.0,” formerly “4 Way Mirror Money.”
Further investigations indicated that the suspect also defrauded another 70-year-old female victim of ₦25,709,400, equivalent to $18,000, through the purchase of gift cards, high-end mobile phones, and computer equipment shipped to Nigeria at his direction.
Items recovered in connection with the case include a MacBook Pro 14-inch, an iPhone 17 Pro Max, two Google Pixel 10 Pro XL devices, and one Google Pixel 10 Pro, collectively valued at ₦8,141,367. Police said the suspect allegedly posed as a 60-year-old orthopedic surgeon working with the United Nations in Nigeria, claiming the devices were needed for secure communication.
The Commissioner of Police, Airport Police Command, CP Ogunbode Olufunke, Mnips, PhD, reiterated the Command’s commitment to preventing criminal exploitation of airport corridors, stressing that intelligence-driven operations would continue to detect and dismantle criminal networks within Nigeria’s aviation environment.
The case has been transferred to the Nigeria Police Force Special Fraud Unit for further investigation, and the suspect will be arraigned in court upon the conclusion of investigations.
