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 and arresting the institution’s 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 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 about suspicious activities at the apartment.
“We received 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 revealed that the rescued youths, mostly between 19 and 24 years old, were recruited from several Nigerian states, including Kogi, Oyo and parts of Northern Nigeria, while others travelled from neighbouring countries such as Niger, Cameroon and Togo after being recruited online.
Investigators said the victims were allegedly persuaded to pay 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 a foreign tertiary institution.
The NSCDC further discovered that participants were allegedly required to recruit additional students in exchange for commissions, with investigators describing the arrangement as operating like a Ponzi or chain-marketing scheme.
According to the corps, one of the victims told investigators that after paying $400, he convinced his brother in Kogi State to enrol and had already started receiving referral commissions.
Investigators also uncovered another aspect of the operation, alleging that some participants were involved in promoting unidentified products online while earning commissions from product sales and new recruitments.
Expressing concern over the development, Ekunola said many parents were unaware of what their children were actually doing 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 disclosed that all 106 rescued students would be profiled before being reunited with their families after investigations are concluded.
The NSCDC area commander added that anyone found culpable in operating the alleged fake institution would be prosecuted in accordance with the law.
He said investigations have been expanded to uncover the full network behind the operation, identify other collaborators and determine whether similar schemes are operating in other parts of the country.
The discovery has renewed concerns over the increasing number of fraudulent online admission schemes targeting young Nigerians and foreign nationals seeking opportunities to study abroad.
