The Airport Police Command in Lagos has arrested a suspected international romance and celebrity scammer accused of defrauding victims in the United States of over ₦1 billion, equivalent to more than $1 million.
The suspect, Essien Emmanuel Akpama (20), was arrested on January 5, 2026, by operatives of the anti-fraud unit of the command while attempting to board a flight out of Lagos, following months of intelligence-led surveillance.
The arrest was confirmed in a statement signed by Police Public Relations Officer of the Airport Police Command, ASP Mohammed Adeola, who said the operation formed part of ongoing efforts to curb transnational financial crimes and prevent Nigerian airports from being used as escape routes by criminal suspects.
The police said Akpama, who previously resided in Calabar, Cross River State, relocated to Lagos on February 23, 2024, where he allegedly coordinated and executed several fraudulent schemes targeting foreign victims.
Adeola revealed that preliminary investigations showed that in one case in 2024, the suspect allegedly used a celebrity romance scam to deceive a 47-year-old female victim in the United States into transferring $1 million under the guise of purchasing property in Florida for an orphanage.
The funds were reportedly solicited through a cryptocurrency platform identified as ‘BullRun 2.0’, formerly known as ‘4 Way Mirror Money’.
Further investigations indicated that the suspect also defrauded another 70-year-old female victim in the United States of ₦25,709,400, equivalent to $18,000, through the purchase of gift cards, high-end mobile phones, and computer equipment, which were shipped to Nigeria at his instruction.
Items recovered from the suspect include a 14-inch MacBook Pro, an iPhone 17 Pro Max, two Google Pixel 10 Pro XL devices, and one Google Pixel 10 Pro, with a combined estimated value of ₦8,141,367.
Police said investigations showed that Akpama allegedly 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 victims.
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Reacting to the arrest, the Commissioner of Police, Airport Police Command, Ogunbode Olufunke, reaffirmed the command’s commitment to preventing criminal elements from exploiting Nigeria’s aviation corridors to evade justice.
She emphasised that the command would continue to deploy intelligence-driven operations to detect, disrupt, and dismantle criminal networks operating within and around Nigeria’s aviation environment.
Meanwhile, the case has since been transferred to the Nigeria Police Force Special Fraud Unit (NPF-SFU) for further investigation.
The police said the suspect would be arraigned in court upon the conclusion of investigations.
