The Airport Police Command in Lagos has arrested a 20-year-old suspect involved in a romance and celebrity fraud that allegedly defrauded victims in the United States of over N1 billion.
The disclosure was contained in a statement issued by ASP Mohammed Adeola, Police Public Relations Officer, Airport Police Command, Lagos, on Tuesday, 6th January 2026.
The suspect, identified as Essien Emmanuel Akpama, was apprehended while attempting to board a flight out of Lagos State.
What the Police is saying
According to the statement, the arrest followed months of intelligence-led surveillance and monitoring based on credible information.
Preliminary investigations revealed that Akpama, who previously resided in Calabar, relocated to Lagos on 23rd February 2024, from where he allegedly coordinated and executed several fraudulent schemes.
“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 one million United States dollars.
“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,” the statement read in part.
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 investigations.
Details of the alleged scams and recovered items
The statement noted that in one highlighted case, Akpama reportedly deceived a 47-year-old female victim in the U.S. into transferring one million U.S. dollars under the pretext of purchasing property in Florida for an orphanage, using a cryptocurrency scheme called “BullRun 2.0,” formerly “4 Way Mirror Money.”
In another instance, he allegedly defrauded a 70-year-old U.S. victim of N25,709,400 (about $18,000) through purchases of gift cards, high-end mobile devices, and computer equipment, which were shipped to Nigeria at his direction.
Items recovered in connection with the case include a MacBook Pro 14-inch, an iPhone 17 Pro Max, and three Google Pixel devices, collectively valued at N8,141,367. Investigators noted that the suspect posed as a 60-year-old orthopedic surgeon working with the United Nations in Nigeria, claiming the devices were necessary for secure communications with his victims.
The Commissioner of Police, Airport Police Command, CP Ogunbode Olufunke, reaffirmed the Command’s commitment to preventing criminal elements from exploiting airport corridors to evade justice. She emphasized that intelligence-driven operations would continue to detect, disrupt, and dismantle criminal networks operating within Nigeria’s aviation ecosystem.
What you should know
The arrest of Essien Emmanuel Akpama follows intensified efforts by authorities at airports over the past few months to combat transnational crimes and prevent the use of airport corridors to evade justice.
In December 2025, Nigerian Customs intercepted undeclared foreign currencies worth about N2.28 billion from an Austrian national at Murtala Muhammed International Airport (MMIA) as he attempted to board a Dubai-bound flight.
Other notable seizures over the past months include $420,900, £5,825, and millions in CFA francs at Kano Airport in July 2025; $49,000 undeclared from a Dubai-bound passenger at MMIA; and $578,000 recovered last year from another traveller.
These intelligence-driven operations continue to detect, disrupt, and dismantle criminal networks operating within and around Nigeria’s aviation ecosystem.
