Police Nab International Romance Fraud Suspect over N1bn Scam Attempt

 

 

The Nigeria Police Force, Airport Police Command, has arrested an alleged international romance and celebrity fraud suspect accused of defrauding victims in the United States of America of over N1 billion, as part of sustained efforts to curb transnational crime and prevent Nigerian airports from being used as escape routes.

The suspect, Essien Emmanuel Akpama, a 20-year-old male, was arrested on January 5, 2026, by operatives of the Anti-Fraud Unit of the Airport Police Command while attempting to board an outbound flight from Lagos. His arrest followed months of intelligence-led surveillance and monitoring based on credible information.

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In a statement issued on Tuesday, the Police Public Relations Officer of the Airport Police Command, ASP Mohammed Adeola, said preliminary investigations showed that Akpama, who previously resided in Calabar, Cross River State, relocated to Lagos on February 23, 2024, from where he allegedly coordinated and executed multiple fraudulent schemes targeting foreign victims.

According to the police, in one major case in 2024, the suspect allegedly used a celebrity scam and romance fraud modus operandi to deceive a 47-year-old female victim in the United States into transferring the sum of $1 million, equivalent to over N1 billion.

The funds were reportedly solicited under the guise of purchasing property in Florida for an orphanage and were channelled through a cryptocurrency scheme known as “BullRun 2.0,” formerly called “4 Way Mirror Money.”

Further investigations revealed that the suspect also allegedly defrauded another victim, a 70-year-old woman in the United States, of N25, 709,400, equivalent to $18,000. The fraud was said to have been carried out through the purchase of gift cards, high-end mobile phones and computer equipment, which were shipped to Nigeria at the suspect’s instruction.

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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, with a combined estimated value of N8, 141,367. Police said investigations showed that the suspect posed as a 60-year-old orthopaedic surgeon working with the United Nations in Nigeria, claiming the devices were needed for secure communication with the victim.

The Commissioner of Police, Airport Police Command, CP Ogunbode Olufunke, Mnips, PhD, reaffirmed the Command’s commitment to preventing criminal elements from exploiting Nigeria’s aviation corridors to evade justice. She said the Command would continue to rely on intelligence-driven operations to detect, disrupt and dismantle criminal networks operating within and around the country’s aviation ecosystem.

The case has since been transferred to the Nigeria Police Force Special Fraud Unit for further investigation, while the suspect is expected to be arraigned in court upon the conclusion of investigations.