Airport Police nabs suspect in N1 billion romance fraud

The Nigeria Police Force, Airport Police Command, in its sustained efforts to combat transnational crimes and prevent the use of Nigerian airports as escape routes for criminal elements, has arrested a notorious celebrity scam and romance fraud suspect responsible for defrauding multiple victims in the United States of America of over N1,000,000,000 (one billion naira), which on conversion amounts to over $1 million.

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

Preliminary investigations revealed that the suspect, who previously resided in Calabar, Cross River State, relocated to Lagos State on February 23rd 2024, from where he coordinated and executed several fraudulent schemes.

In 2024, the suspect, using a celebrity scam modus operandi, deceived a 47-year-old female victim in the United States into transferring one million US dollars under the pretext of purchasing property in Florida for an orphanage. The funds were fraudulently solicited through a cryptocurrency scheme known as “BullRun 2.0,” formerly “4 Way Mirror Money.”

Further investigations revealed that the suspect also defrauded another 70-year-old female victim in the United States of a total sum of N25,709,400 (Twenty-Five Million, Seven Hundred and Nine Thousand, Four Hundred Naira), equivalent to $18,000 (Eighteen Thousand US Dollars). The fraud was perpetrated by purchasing gift cards, high-end mobile devices, and computer equipment, which were shipped to Nigeria at the suspect’s direction.

Items recently recovered in connection with the case include one MacBook Pro 14-inch, one iPhone 17 Pro Max, two Google Pixel 10 Pro XL devices, and one Google Pixel 10 Pro, collectively valued at N8,141,367 (Eight Million, One Hundred and Forty-One Thousand, Three Hundred and Sixty-Seven Naira). Investigations further revealed that the suspect posed as a 60-year-old orthopaedic surgeon working with the United Nations in Nigeria, claiming the devices were required to maintain secure communication with the victim.

The Commissioner of Police, Airport Police Command, CP Ogunbode Olufunke, Mnips, PhD, reaffirms the Command’s resolve to prevent criminal elements from exploiting airport corridors to evade justice. She emphasised that the Command 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 (NPF-SFU) for further investigation, and the suspect will be arraigned in court upon completion of the investigation.

Wole Shadare