Operatives of the Nigeria Security and Civil Defence Corps (NSCDC), Badagry Area Command, have uncovered a suspected fake university operating from a three-bedroom apartment in Ilado, Olorunda Local Council Development Area of Lagos State.
The security agency rescued 106 youths allegedly recruited into the scheme and arrested the suspected proprietor, who was accused of luring prospective students from different parts of Nigeria and neighbouring West African countries with promises of admission into a foreign university.
The raid, carried out in the early hours of Monday, followed several days of intelligence gathering and covert surveillance by NSCDC operatives.
According to the corps, the institution had no official name, registration, signboard or recognised campus, yet allegedly operated online as a distance-learning centre affiliated with a foreign university.
The Badagry Area Commander of the NSCDC, Chief Superintendent Gbenga Ekunola, disclosed that the operation was based on credible intelligence.
He said operatives placed the premises under surveillance before conducting the raid, adding that the proprietor had been arrested and was assisting with investigations, while the rescued students had been placed in protective custody.
Preliminary investigations showed that most of the rescued youths, aged between 19 and 24, were recruited from states including Kogi, Oyo and several northern states, while others came from neighbouring countries such as Niger, Cameroon and Togo through online recruitment platforms.
The NSCDC alleged that the victims paid between ₦200,000 and ₦1.5 million as admission and processing fees, while some foreign nationals reportedly paid between $400 and $500 after being promised admission into a foreign higher institution.
Investigators also discovered that participants were allegedly encouraged to recruit more students in exchange for financial commissions, in a model the corps said resembled a Ponzi or chain-marketing scheme.
One of the rescued youths reportedly told investigators that after paying $400 to enrol, he convinced his brother in Kogi State to join the programme and had already begun receiving referral commissions. Investigations also revealed that some participants were involved in promoting unidentified products online while earning commissions from product sales and recruitment.
Ekunola expressed concern that many parents were unaware of their children’s actual activities in Badagry.
He said the command had begun contacting families, noting that one parent disclosed that her child told the family he had travelled to Badagry to learn a trade, not to attend a university.
Ekunola added that all 106 rescued youths would undergo proper profiling before being reunited with their families after investigations, while anyone found culpable would be prosecuted.
He also said investigations had been expanded to uncover other collaborators and determine whether similar schemes were operating in other parts of the country.
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