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 (LCDA) of Lagos State, rescuing 106 youths allegedly lured into the scheme with promises of admission into a foreign university.
The command also arrested the proprietor of the institution, who is accused of recruiting young people from different parts of Nigeria and neighbouring West African countries through what investigators described as a fraudulent admission and referral network resembling a Ponzi scheme.
The operation, carried out in the early hours of Monday, followed several days of intelligence gathering and covert surveillance by NSCDC operatives.
Meanwhile, what appeared to be an ordinary three-bedroom apartment tucked away in the Ilado area of Olorunda LCDA was, according to security officials, the centre of an elaborate alleged academic fraud and recruitment operation targeting desperate young people seeking higher education abroad.
Confirming the development to a local news platform, Badagry Today, the Badagry Area Commander of the NSCDC, Chief Superintendent Gbenga Ekunola, said the command acted on credible intelligence regarding suspicious activities at the location.
“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.
According to the NSCDC, the apartment was filled with young men and women, most of them between the ages of 19 and 24, who appeared visibly confused and uncertain about their future following the raid.
Preliminary findings revealed that the victims had travelled to Badagry from different parts of Nigeria, including Kogi State, Oyo State and several northern states.
Others reportedly crossed into Nigeria from neighbouring countries such as Niger Republic, Cameroon and Togo after being recruited through online platforms.
Investigators said one of the most disturbing discoveries was that the so-called university had no official name, no signboard, no registration with any regulatory authority and no recognised campus.
Instead, the institution operated entirely from the rented apartment while presenting itself online as a distance learning centre affiliated with a foreign university.
According to preliminary investigations, the operators convinced unsuspecting young people that they had secured admission into a foreign tertiary institution after paying various sums described as admission and processing fees.
Victims reportedly paid amounts ranging from ₦200,000 to ₦1.5 million, while some foreign nationals disclosed that they paid between $400 and $500 in admission-related charges.
However, investigators said obtaining admission was only one part of the alleged scheme.
The operators allegedly encouraged the students to recruit additional participants, promising them commissions for every successful referral.
According to the NSCDC, the recruitment structure functioned like a chain marketing or Ponzi-style operation, where participants earned increasing financial rewards based on the number of new students they introduced into the programme.
One of the rescued victims reportedly admitted to investigators that after paying $400 in fees, he persuaded his own brother in Kogi State to enrol and had already begun receiving commissions from successful referrals.
Investigators further uncovered another aspect of the alleged operation, revealing that some of the students were also engaged in promoting unidentified products online while earning percentages from product sales and the recruitment of additional participants.
Ekunola expressed concern over the level of deception involved in the operation, noting that many parents had no knowledge 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.
The NSCDC Area Commander assured that every rescued victim would be properly profiled before being reunited with their families and guardians after the conclusion of investigations.
He also vowed that all those found culpable in operating the alleged illegal institution would be prosecuted in accordance with the law.
The discovery has once again highlighted the growing threat posed by fraudulent online admission schemes targeting thousands of young Nigerians desperate for educational opportunities abroad.
The NSCDC is continuing its investigation to determine the full scope of the alleged network, identify additional collaborators, and establish whether similar operations are active in other parts of Nigeria.
