The Nigeria Security and Civil Defence Corps (NSCDC), Badagry Area Command, has dismantled an alleged fake foreign university admission and recruitment syndicate q Ilado area of Olorunda Local Council Development Area, rescuing 106 young people and arresting the suspected proprietor.
The operation, carried out in the early hours of Monday, followed days of intelligence gathering and covert surveillance by NSCDC operatives, according to the Badagry Area Commander, Chief Superintendent Gbenga Ekunola.
Speaking on the operation, Ekunola said the command acted on credible intelligence regarding suspicious activities at the location.
“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,” he said.
The victims, mostly between the ages of 19 and 24, were found inside a three-bedroom apartment allegedly being used as the operational base of an unregistered institution posing online as a distance learning centre affiliated with a foreign university.
Preliminary investigations revealed that the victims were recruited from different parts of Nigeria, including Kogi, Oyo and several northern states, as well as neighbouring countries such as Niger, Cameroon and Togo.
Investigators said the alleged operators convinced the victims they had secured admission into a foreign tertiary institution after paying admission and processing fees ranging from ₦200,000 to ₦1.5 million. Some foreign nationals reportedly paid between $400 and $500.
The NSCDC further alleged that participants were encouraged to recruit new students in exchange for commissions, operating a referral system similar to a Ponzi or chain-marketing scheme.
According to investigators, some of the victims also participated in promoting unidentified products online while earning commissions from sales and recruitment.
One of the rescued victims reportedly admitted to paying $400 before persuading his brother in Kogi State to join the programme, adding that he had already begun receiving referral commissions.
Ekunola expressed concern that many parents were unaware of their children’s actual activities in Badagry.
“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. That shows many of these parents were completely unaware,” he said.
He assured that all rescued individuals would be profiled and reunited with their families after investigations, while those found culpable in operating the alleged illegal institution would be prosecuted.
The NSCDC said investigations are ongoing to determine the full extent of the network, identify other collaborators and establish whether similar operations exist in other parts of the country.
The discovery has raised fresh concerns over the increasing prevalence of fraudulent online admission schemes targeting young Nigerians and foreign nationals seeking educational opportunities abroad.
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