The Airport Police Command, Lagos, has arrested a 20-year-old man, Essien Emmanuel Akpama, for allegedly defrauding multiple victims in the United States of over ₦1 billion, equivalent to more than $1 million, through a celebrity romance and fraud scheme.

The arrest was disclosed in a statement issued on Tuesday by the Police Public Relations Officer of the command, ASP Mohammed Adeola.

According to the statement, the suspect was apprehended on January 5, 2026, by operatives of the Anti-Fraud Unit while attempting to board a flight out of Lagos, following months of intelligence-led surveillance.

“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 Akpama relocated from Calabar, Cross River State, to Lagos on February 23, 2024, where he allegedly coordinated several fraudulent operations.

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

Police said the funds were solicited through a cryptocurrency scheme known as “BullRun 2.0,” formerly called “4 Way Mirror Money.”

Further investigations also revealed that the suspect allegedly defrauded a 70-year-old woman in the United States of ₦25,709,400, equivalent to about $18,000, through the purchase of gift cards, high-end mobile phones, and computer equipment, which were shipped to Nigeria at his 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.

Police said 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 communications.

The Commissioner of Police, Airport Police Command, CP Ogunbode Olufunke, Mnips, PhD, emphasised the importance of intelligence-driven operations in combating crime within Nigeria’s aviation sector.

“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, and the suspect will be arraigned in court upon the conclusion of the inquiry.