The Airport Police Command, Lagos, has arrested a 20-year-old man, Essien Emmanuel Akpama, over his alleged involvement in a large-scale celebrity romance fraud that reportedly defrauded multiple victims in the United States of over ₦1 billion (more than $1 million).

The arrest was confirmed in a statement issued on Tuesday by the Police Public Relations Officer of the Command, ASP Mohammed Adeola, who said the operation followed months of intelligence-led surveillance.

According to the statement, Akpama was arrested on January 5, 2026, by operatives of the Anti-Fraud Unit while attempting to board a flight out of Lagos.

“The Nigeria Police Force, Airport Police Command, in its sustained efforts to combat transnational crimes and prevent the use of Nigerian airports as escape routes for criminal elements, has arrested a notorious celebrity scam and romance fraud suspect,” the statement said.

Investigations revealed that the suspect relocated from Calabar, Cross River State, to Lagos on February 23, 2024, from where he allegedly coordinated several fraudulent schemes targeting victims abroad.

One of the cases involved a 47-year-old woman in the United States who was deceived into transferring $1 million under the guise of purchasing property in Florida for an orphanage.

“The suspect, through a celebrity scam modus operandi, deceived a 47-year-old female victim in the United States into transferring one million US dollars under the pretext of purchasing property in Florida for an orphanage,” the police said.

The funds were allegedly solicited through a cryptocurrency investment scheme known as “BullRun 2.0,” formerly called “4 Way Mirror Money.”

Further investigations also revealed that Akpama allegedly defrauded another victim, a 70-year-old woman in the United States, of ₦25,709,400 (approximately $18,000).

The police said the fraud was carried out through 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 14-inch MacBook Pro, an iPhone 17 Pro Max, two Google Pixel 10 Pro XL devices and one Google Pixel 10 Pro, with a combined estimated value of ₦8,141,367.

The statement added that 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 required for secure communication.

Commenting on the arrest, the Commissioner of Police, Airport Police Command, CP Ogunbode Olufunke, MNIPS, PhD, stressed the importance of intelligence-driven policing.

“The Command will continue to deploy intelligence-driven operations to detect, disrupt and dismantle criminal networks operating within and around Nigeria’s aviation ecosystem,” she said.

The case has been transferred to the Nigeria Police Force Special Fraud Unit for further investigation, while the suspect is expected to be arraigned in court upon completion of the probe.