The Nigeria Immigration Service (NIS) has dismantled a transnational organised crime syndicate linked to fraudulent network marketing activities in Lagos and Ogun states, arresting 12 suspects and rescuing two Liberian victims.
The operation, driven by actionable intelligence, led to the arrest of the alleged kingpin, Ouattra Adama, a Burkinabe national, alongside 11 suspected facilitators comprising eight Liberians and three Cameroonians.
According to a statement issued in Abuja by the NIS Public Relations Officer, Akinsola Akinlabi, the suspects are believed to be members of the QNET/IGNITE syndicate, a criminal network accused of using deceptive business and migration promises to lure unsuspecting victims.
Akinlabi said the operation forms part of the Service’s intensified crackdown on trafficking syndicates and other transnational organised criminal groups operating within Nigeria.
“The intensified clampdown led to the arrest of the alleged syndicate leader, a Burkinabe national identified as Ouattra Adama, alongside 11 suspected facilitators comprising eight Liberians and three Cameroonians,” he said.
He added that the two rescued Liberian nationals, believed to be victims of the syndicate, have been taken into protective custody, while all 12 suspects have been transferred to the NIS Headquarters for further investigation and prosecution.
The Service advised members of the public to verify all employment, educational, business and migration offers through appropriate government channels before making payments or travelling abroad, warning that criminal networks continue to exploit fake opportunities to traffic and defraud unsuspecting people.
The Comptroller General of the Nigeria Immigration Service, Kemi Nandap, reaffirmed the agency’s commitment to intelligence-driven border management and sustained efforts to dismantle transnational criminal networks threatening Nigeria’s security.
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