- Operatives of the Nigeria Security and Civil Defence Corps (NSCDC), Badagry Area Command, have raided a fake university operating out of a three-bedroom apartment in Ilado, Olorunda LCDA, Lagos State.
- Security forces rescued 106 young individuals recruited from various Nigerian states and neighboring West African countries under the pretense of enrollment in a foreign distance-learning institution.
- Preliminary investigations revealed that the fraudulent establishment operated like a multi-level marketing scheme, forcing victims to pay between N200,000 and N1.5 million while conditioning earnings on recruiting additional students.
Operatives of the Nigeria Security and Civil Defence Corps (NSCDC) attached to the Badagry Area Command in Lagos State have dismantled a clandestine syndicate operating a bogus tertiary institution from a residential apartment.
Eko Hot Blog reports that the early-morning tactical raid, conducted in the Ilado area of Olorunda Local Council Development Area, led to the rescue of 106 young individuals and the immediate arrest of the facility’s self-styled proprietor.
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Addressing press men regarding the operational breakthrough, the NSCDC Badagry Area Commander, Chief Superintendent Gbenga Ekunola, disclosed that the raid was executed following intensive intelligence gathering and days of covert surveillance.
The illegal entity, which operated without regulatory approval, physical signage, or an accredited campus, fraudulently marketed itself online as an international distance-learning portal affiliated with foreign universities.
“We got reliable intelligence about the activities going on there. Our officers monitored the place for days before moving in. We have arrested the proprietor, who is assisting with our investigation, while the students have been taken into our protective custody. We have started contacting their families. One parent told us her child informed the family that he came to Badagry to learn a trade, not to attend a university.”
— Gbenga Ekunola, NSCDC Badagry Area Commander
Investigations showed that the rescued victims, aged between 19 and 24, were lured from states including Kogi and Oyo, as well as neighbouring nations such as Niger, Cameroon, and Togo.
Domestic applicants were charged fees ranging from N200,000 to N1.5 million, while foreign nationals paid between $400 and $500 under the false pretense of securing international academic degrees.
Further probing uncovered that the establishment functioned as a referral-based pyramid scheme.
Enrolled students were promised financial commissions for every new candidate they successfully recruited into the network. Investigators also discovered that some victims were coerced into promoting unspecified commercial products online to earn percentages on sales.
The NSCDC confirmed that profiling of all rescued individuals is underway before reuniting them with their families, while suspects will face full prosecution upon conclusion of the expanded investigation.
