Olusegun ARIYO
A Vigilante Team of the Nigeria Security and Civil Defence Corps, NSCDC, Badagry Area Command, have uncovered a suspected fake university operating from a three-bedroom apartment in Ilado, within the Olorunda Local Council Development Area of Lagos State.
The security agency rescued 106 youths allegedly recruited into the scheme.
The operation also led to the arrest of the alleged proprietor, who is accused of enticing prospective students from different parts of Nigeria and neighbouring West African countries with promises of admission into a foreign university.
The raid was conducted in the early hours of Monday after several days of intelligence gathering and covert surveillance by NSCDC personnel.
According to the corps, the institution had no official name, registration, signboard or recognised campus, yet allegedly presented itself online as a distance-learning centre affiliated with a foreign university.
Speaking on the operation, the Badagry Area Commander of the NSCDC, Chief Superintendent Gbenga Ekunola, said the raid followed credible intelligence on the activities taking place at the apartment.
“We received reliable intelligence regarding the activities at the location. Our operatives kept the premises under surveillance for several days before carrying out the operation. The proprietor has been arrested and is assisting with our investigation, while the students have been placed under protective custody,” Ekunola said.
Preliminary investigations showed that the rescued youths, most of whom are between 19 and 24 years old, were recruited from different states across Nigeria, including Kogi, Oyo and several northern states. Others reportedly travelled from neighbouring countries such as Niger, Cameroon and Togo after being recruited through online platforms.
The NSCDC alleged that the victims paid admission and processing fees ranging from N200,000 to N1.5 million, while some foreign nationals reportedly paid between $400 and $500 after being promised admission into a foreign higher institution.
Investigators also discovered that participants were allegedly required to recruit additional students in exchange for financial commissions.
According to the corps, the recruitment model bore similarities to a Ponzi or chain-marketing scheme, with participants allegedly promised increasing earnings based on the number of recruits they introduced.
One of the rescued individuals reportedly told investigators that after paying $400 to enrol, he persuaded his brother in Kogi State to join the programme and had already begun receiving referral commissions.
The investigation further revealed that some participants were allegedly engaged in promoting unidentified products online, earning commissions from both product sales and the recruitment of new members.
Expressing concern over the development, Ekunola said many parents appeared to be unaware of their children’s actual activities in Badagry.
“We have begun contacting their families. One parent told us her child had informed the family that he travelled to Badagry to learn a trade, not to attend a university. That clearly shows many parents had no idea what was really going on,” he said.
He added that all 106 rescued youths would undergo proper profiling before being reunited with their families after the conclusion of investigations.
The area commander stated that anyone found culpable in operating the suspected illegal institution would be prosecuted in accordance with the law.
He also disclosed that investigations had been widened to uncover the full network behind the operation, identify other collaborators and determine whether similar schemes are operating in other parts of the country.
