The Nigeria Police Force, Airport Police Command, has arrested a 20-year-old suspected celebrity scam and romance fraudster accused of defrauding multiple victims in the United States of over ₦1 billion.
The suspect, identified as Essien Emmanuel Akpama, was arrested on January 5, 2026, by operatives of the Anti-Fraud Unit of the Airport Police Command while attempting to board a flight out of Lagos State.
According to a statement by the Police Public Relations Officer of the command, ASP Mohammed Adeola, Akpama’s arrest followed months of intelligence-led surveillance based on credible information linking him to transnational fraud.
Preliminary investigations revealed that the suspect, who previously lived in Calabar, Cross River State, relocated to Lagos on February 23, 2024, where he allegedly coordinated and carried out several fraudulent schemes targeting foreign victims.
In one major case in 2024, Akpama reportedly defrauded a 47-year-old woman in the United States of $1 million (over ₦1 billion) through a celebrity scam. The funds were allegedly solicited under the guise of purchasing property in Florida for an orphanage and routed through a cryptocurrency scheme known as “BullRun 2.0,” formerly called “4 Way Mirror Money.”
Police also disclosed that the suspect defrauded another 70-year-old female victim in the United States of ₦25,709,400, equivalent to $18,000. The fraud involved the purchase of gift cards, high-end mobile phones, and computer equipment, which were shipped to Nigeria at the suspect’s instruction.
Recovered items 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 value of ₦8,141,367. Investigators said Akpama posed as a 60-year-old orthopedic surgeon working with the United Nations in Nigeria, claiming the devices were needed for secure communication.
The Commissioner of Police, Airport Police Command, Dr Ogunbode Olufunke, reiterated the command’s determination to prevent Nigerian airports from being used as escape routes for criminal elements. She said intelligence-driven operations would continue to detect and dismantle criminal networks within the aviation environment.
The case has been transferred to the Nigeria Police Force Special Fraud Unit (NPF-SFU) for further investigation, and the suspect is expected to be arraigned in court upon the conclusion of investigations.