Operatives of the Nigeria Police Force, Airport Police Command, have arrested a 20-year-old suspected internet fraudster for allegedly defrauding foreign victims, mostly in the United States, of about N1.25bn and several costly electronic gadgets.
The suspect, Essien Akpama, was arrested on 5 January 2026 while attempting to board a flight out of Lagos State.
Confirming the arrest, the Police Public Relations Officer of the Command, ASP Mohammed Adeola, said the suspect was apprehended by operatives of the Anti-Fraud Unit after months of intelligence-led surveillance.
“The arrest followed sustained intelligence gathering and monitoring based on credible information, as part of our efforts to combat transnational crimes and prevent Nigerian airports from being used as escape routes by criminal elements,” Adeola said.
Preliminary investigations revealed that Akpama, who previously resided in Calabar, Cross River State, relocated to Lagos on 23 February 2024, from where he allegedly coordinated several fraudulent schemes targeting foreign nationals.
According to the police, in one major incident in 2024, the suspect allegedly used a celebrity scam and romance fraud tactic to deceive a 47-year-old woman in the United States into transferring $1m, equivalent to over N1 bn.
“The suspect fraudulently obtained the funds under the pretext of purchasing property in Florida for an orphanage,” Adeola said, adding that “the transaction was facilitated through a cryptocurrency scheme identified as ‘BullRun 2.0’, formerly known as ‘4 Way Mirror Money’.”
Police investigations also indicated that Akpama allegedly scammed another 70-year-old American woman out of $18,000, roughly equivalent to N25,709,400.
“The fraud was carried out through the purchase of gift cards and high-end mobile phones and computer equipment, which were shipped to Nigeria at the suspect’s direction,” the police spokesperson stated.
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.
According to the police, the suspect allegedly posed as a 60-year-old orthopaedic surgeon working with the United Nations in Nigeria, claiming that the devices were required to maintain secure communication with the victim.
Reacting to the development, the Commissioner of Police, Airport Police Command, Ogunbode Olufunke, Mnips, PhD, reaffirmed the Command’s determination to clamp down on criminals exploiting the aviation sector.
“Our Command remains resolute in ensuring that airport corridors are not used to evade justice,” she said. “We will continue to deploy intelligence-driven operations to detect, disrupt and dismantle criminal networks operating within and around Nigeria’s aviation ecosystem.”
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 upon the conclusion of investigations.
