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.
The corps also arrested the alleged proprietor of the institution, who is accused of luring young Nigerians and foreign nationals with promises of admission into a foreign university.
The operation was carried out in the early hours of Monday following several 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 based on credible intelligence received by the command.
“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.
Preliminary investigations revealed that the rescued youths, most of whom are between 19 and 24 years old, were recruited from different parts of Nigeria, including Kogi, Oyo and several northern states. Others reportedly travelled from neighbouring countries such as Niger, Cameroon and Togo after responding to online recruitment campaigns.
Investigators disclosed that the victims were persuaded to pay admission and processing fees ranging from ₦200,000 to ₦1.5 million, while some foreign nationals allegedly 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 as a condition of admission, with commissions paid for every successful referral.
According to investigators, the arrangement operated in the manner of a Ponzi or chain-marketing scheme, with participants promised increasing financial rewards based on the number of new recruits they introduced into the programme.
READ ALSO: European-American University Disowns Abuja Convocation, Says Rarara’s Honorary Doctorate ‘Fake’
One of the rescued victims reportedly told investigators that after paying $400 to join the programme, he persuaded his brother in Kogi State to enrol and had already begun receiving referral commissions.
The command also uncovered another aspect of the operation, alleging that some participants were engaged in promoting unidentified products online while earning commissions from both product sales and recruitment.
Expressing concern over the development, Ekunola said many parents were unaware of the true activities of their children 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 youths would be profiled before being reunited with their families after the conclusion of investigations.
The area commander added that anyone found culpable in operating the alleged fake institution would be prosecuted in accordance with the law.
The NSCDC said investigations had been expanded to identify other members of the network, determine the full scope of the operation and establish whether similar fraudulent admission schemes are operating in other parts of the country.
The discovery has renewed concerns over the growing prevalence of fake online admission platforms targeting young Nigerians and foreign nationals seeking opportunities to study abroad.