LOVE, LIES & A BILLION-NAIRA BETRAYAL: AIRPORT POLICE NAIL 20-YEAR-OLD ROMANCE SCAM KINGPIN AT LAGOS AIRPORT

The Nigeria Police Force, Airport Police Command, has recorded a major breakthrough in its sustained war against transnational cybercrime with the arrest of a notorious international romance and celebrity fraud suspect who allegedly defrauded multiple victims in the United States of America of over N1 billion (more than $1 million).
The suspect, Essien Emmanuel Akpama, male, aged 20, was apprehended on 5th January, 2026, by operatives of the Anti-Fraud Unit of the Airport Police Command while attempting to flee the country via a Lagos airport. His arrest followed months of intensive, intelligence-led surveillance based on credible and actionable information.
Preliminary investigations revealed that Akpama, who previously resided in Calabar, Cross River State, relocated to Lagos State on 23rd February, 2024, from where he allegedly coordinated and executed several sophisticated online fraud schemes targeting elderly and vulnerable victims abroad.
In one major case in 2024, the suspect reportedly employed a celebrity romance scam to deceive a 47-year-old female victim in the United States into transferring $1 million under the false pretext of purchasing property in Florida for an orphanage. The funds were fraudulently solicited through a cryptocurrency investment scheme known as “BullRun 2.0,” formerly called “4 Way Mirror Money.”
Further investigations uncovered another case involving a 70-year-old female victim in the United States who was allegedly defrauded of N25,709,400 (equivalent to $18,000). The fraud was carried out through the purchase of gift cards, high-end mobile phones, and computer equipment, all shipped to Nigeria at the suspect’s instruction.
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, with a combined estimated value of N8,141,367. Investigations further revealed that the suspect impersonated a 60-year-old orthopedic surgeon working with the United Nations in Nigeria, claiming the devices were required for “secure communication” with his victims.
The Commissioner of Police, Airport Police Command, CP Ogunbode Olufunke, Mnips, PhD, reaffirmed the Command’s unwavering commitment to preventing criminal elements from exploiting Nigeria’s airports as escape routes. She stressed that the Command will continue to deploy intelligence-driven operations to detect, disrupt, and dismantle criminal networks operating within and around the nation’s aviation ecosystem.
The case has since been transferred to the Nigeria Police Force Special Fraud Unit (NPF-SFU) for further investigation. The suspect will be arraigned in court upon the conclusion of investigations.