The Airport Police Command in Lagos has arrested a 20-year-old man, Essien Emmanuel Akpama, for allegedly defrauding multiple victims in the United States of over ₦1 billion through a celebrity romance and fraud scheme.
The arrest was confirmed in a statement issued on Tuesday by the Police Public Relations Officer of the command, ASP Mohammed Adeola. According to the police, the suspect was apprehended following months of intelligence-led surveillance aimed at combating transnational crimes.
Akpama was arrested on January 5, 2026, by operatives of the Anti-Fraud Unit while attempting to board a flight out of Lagos, allegedly to evade law enforcement.
Investigations revealed that the suspect relocated from Calabar, Cross River State, to Lagos on February 23, 2024, where he coordinated several online fraud operations. One of the schemes reportedly involved deceiving a 47-year-old woman in the United States into transferring $1 million under the guise of purchasing property in Florida for an orphanage.
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Police disclosed that the funds were solicited through a cryptocurrency platform known as “BullRun 2.0,” formerly called “4 Way Mirror Money.”
Further investigations also revealed that Akpama allegedly defrauded another 70-year-old US woman of ₦25,709,400 (approximately $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 direction.
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, collectively valued at ₦8,141,367.
Police said the suspect allegedly posed as a 60-year-old orthopaedic surgeon working with the United Nations in Nigeria to convince victims that the devices were needed for secure communications.
Commissioner of Police, Airport Police Command, CP Ogunbode Olufunke, Mnips, PhD, reaffirmed the command’s commitment to intelligence-driven policing, noting that efforts would continue to dismantle criminal networks operating within Nigeria’s aviation ecosystem.
The case has been transferred to the Nigeria Police Force Special Fraud Unit for further investigation, and the suspect will be charged to court upon completion of inquiries.
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