The Nigeria Police Force National Cybercrime Centre (NPF-NCCC) has arrested nine suspects in three separate investigations into alleged international cybercrime involving investment fraud, romance scams, sextortion, identity theft and money laundering.
The Director of the Centre, Assistant Inspector-General of Police Akaninyene Ezima, disclosed this during a press briefing in Abuja on Friday, October 23, 2026.
He said the investigations, supported by intelligence from the United Kingdom National Crime Agency (NCA), the Royal Canadian Mounted Police (RCMP) and Germany’s Federal Criminal Police Office (BKA), exposed suspected criminal networks targeting victims in North America, Europe, Australia and other jurisdictions.
In the first operation, four suspects — Ojei Divine, Godwin Umerin, Edema Bright and Peter Kpamichukwu Okoh — were arrested in Agbor and Okpanam, Delta State, in October.
According to Ezima, the suspects allegedly engaged in fraudulent investment schemes, online impersonation, sextortion and cryptocurrency fraud.
Ojei allegedly impersonated investment traders through multiple Facebook accounts and directed victims to fraudulent investment websites offering purported forex, cryptocurrency and oil and gas trading opportunities.
Cryptocurrency analysis reportedly identified 21 approved transactions worth $21,150 from one wallet controlled by the suspect. Investigators recovered crypto assets valued at $15,900, which have been secured in a custodial wallet.
Umerin allegedly used Facebook accounts to defraud an Indonesian citizen of seven million Indonesian rupiah through an account provided by a money mule.
Bright, a student of Delta State University, allegedly engaged in sextortion and cryptocurrency investment fraud, while Okoh, a website developer, reportedly admitted to developing six websites allegedly used by scammers.
The police recovered 36 mobile devices and three routers, among other exhibits, in the operation.
In the second case, two suspects, Uka Chidiebere Gerald, 32, and Kenneth Ufuophu, 30, were arrested in Delta State over an alleged romance fraud and money-laundering network that targeted elderly Canadians between 2020 and 2024.
Ezima said one victim transferred more than CA$200,000 after being deceived by a person impersonating a United States military physician. Investigators allegedly linked the transactions to a cryptocurrency wallet through which USDT 1,684,441 was laundered.
Another victim reportedly lost CA$214,000 through cryptocurrency transfers and an additional CA$3,000 through a wire transfer.
Five victims have so far been identified, with documented losses by two victims exceeding CA$417,000, the police said.
The third investigation led to the arrest of three suspects — Adebayo Adewale Basit, Omoregie Christian and Adebayo Ibrahim — in Lekki, Lagos State, on October 14.
The suspects allegedly operated fake social media accounts to impersonate celebrities and other prominent personalities.
Basit, 23, allegedly used AI voice cloning and deepfake technology to impersonate Tesla chief executive Elon Musk and promote fraudulent cryptocurrency investments through a platform identified as Bitcoin Trading Hub.
Devices and other items recovered included five iPhones, a Samsung phone, an iPad, a Microsoft Surface Pro tablet, internet routers and other electronic equipment.
Ezima said investigations were ongoing to identify additional suspects, trace suspected proceeds of crime and establish the full extent of the alleged offences.
He warned Nigerians against unrealistic investment promises and deceptive online relationships, urging victims to report suspected cybercrime promptly.
He added that the NPF-NCCC, under Inspector-General of Police Olatunji Rilwan Disu, would continue strengthening digital forensics and international cooperation to combat cybercrime.
