The Nigeria Security and Civil Defence Corps (NSCDC), Badagry Area Command, has uncovered a suspected fake university operating from a three-bedroom apartment in Ilado, Olorunda Local Council Development Area of Lagos State, rescuing 106 youths allegedly recruited into the scheme.
Operatives also arrested the alleged proprietor, who is accused of luring young people from across Nigeria and neighbouring West African countries with promises of admission into a foreign university.
The operation was carried out in the early hours of Monday after days of intelligence gathering and covert surveillance by NSCDC personnel.
According to the corps, the suspected institution operated without an official name, registration, signboard or recognised campus, while allegedly presenting itself online as a distance-learning centre affiliated with a foreign university.
Speaking after the raid, the Badagry Area Commander of the NSCDC, Chief Superintendent Gbenga Ekunola, said the operation was launched following credible intelligence.
“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,” Ekunola said.
Preliminary investigations showed that the rescued youths, mostly between the ages of 19 and 24, were recruited from several Nigerian states, including Kogi, Oyo and parts of northern Nigeria. Others reportedly travelled from neighbouring countries such as Niger, Cameroon and Togo after being recruited online.
Investigators said the victims were persuaded to pay admission and processing fees ranging from ₦200,000 to ₦1.5 million, while some foreign nationals allegedly paid between $400 and $500 after being promised admission into a foreign tertiary institution.
The NSCDC alleged that the admission process also required participants to recruit additional students in exchange for commissions.
According to investigators, the operation bore the characteristics of a Ponzi or multi-level marketing scheme, with participants promised increasing financial rewards based on the number of people they brought into the programme.
One of the rescued victims reportedly told investigators that after paying $400 to enrol, he persuaded his brother in Kogi State to join the programme and had already begun receiving referral commissions.
Investigators also uncovered another aspect of the operation, alleging that some participants were involved in promoting unspecified products online while earning commissions from both product sales and new recruitments.
Expressing concern over the incident, Ekunola said many parents were unaware of their children’s 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 added that all 106 rescued youths would be profiled before being reunited with their families after investigations are concluded.
The area commander said anyone found culpable in operating the alleged fake institution would be prosecuted in accordance with the law.
The NSCDC said investigations had been expanded to uncover the full network behind the operation, identify other collaborators and determine whether similar schemes are operating elsewhere in the country.
The discovery has renewed concerns over the growing prevalence of fraudulent online admission schemes targeting young Nigerians and foreign nationals seeking educational opportunities abroad.
