The Nigeria Security and Civil Defence Corps (NSCDC) has uncovered a suspected fake university operating from a three-bedroom apartment in Ilado, within the Olorunda Local Council Development Area of Lagos State, rescuing 106 students allegedly recruited into the scheme.
The operation, carried out by the NSCDC Badagry Area Command in the early hours of Monday, followed several days of intelligence gathering and surveillance.
Authorities arrested the alleged proprietor of the institution, who is accused of deceiving young people from across Nigeria and neighbouring West African countries with promises of admission into a foreign university.
According to the NSCDC, the institution operated without an official name, registration, signboard or recognised campus, while presenting itself online as a distance-learning centre affiliated with a foreign university.
Badagry Area Commander, Chief Superintendent Gbenga Ekunola, said the raid was based on credible intelligence and that the suspect is assisting investigators, while the rescued students have been placed in protective custody.
Preliminary investigations showed that most of the students, aged between 19 and 24, came from states including Kogi, Oyo and several northern states, while others travelled from Niger, Cameroon and Togo after being recruited online.
Investigators said victims paid admission and processing fees ranging from ₦200,000 to ₦1.5 million, while some foreign nationals reportedly paid between $400 and $500 after being promised admission into an overseas tertiary institution.
The NSCDC also alleged that participants were required to recruit additional students in return for commissions, describing the operation as similar to a Ponzi or chain-marketing scheme. Authorities further discovered that some participants were involved in promoting unidentified products online and earned commissions from both product sales and new recruits.
Ekunola said many parents were unaware of their children’s activities, noting that one parent believed her child had travelled to Badagry to learn a trade rather than attend a university.
He added that all rescued students would be profiled before being reunited with their families, while anyone found culpable would be prosecuted.
The NSCDC said investigations have been expanded to identify other collaborators, dismantle the wider network behind the operation, and determine whether similar fraudulent schemes are operating in other parts of the country.
