The Nigeria Immigration Service (NIS) on Sunday, August 18, 2025, commenced the deportation of 42 Chinese and Philippine nationals found guilty of cyber terrorism and Ponzi scheme offences.
The group, representing the first batch of 192 convicted foreigners, was scheduled to leave the country on Sunday afternoon. They were among the 759 suspects apprehended during a large-scale raid on December 10, 2024, at Oyin Jolayemi Street in Victoria Island, Lagos.
NIS officials disclosed that the remaining batches of deportees would be flown out on Monday and Tuesday to conclude the repatriation exercise. All the convicts have since been handed over to Immigration for onward removal to their home countries.
Investigations revealed that the syndicate had been running a sophisticated cyber fraud and Ponzi operation before their arrest in the joint security raid. The Economic and Financial Crimes Commission (EFCC), which prosecuted the suspects, confirmed that 192 of them—comprising Chinese and Philippine citizens—were eventually convicted in court.
Charges against the group included using fake online profiles to scam unsuspecting victims, training workers of Genting International Co. Limited in fraudulent tactics, and other crimes under the Advance Fee Fraud and Other Related Offences Act of 2006.
According to the EFCC, the offences posed grave threats to Nigeria’s financial system and national security, underscoring the scale of the fraudulent network.
EFCC Chairman, Ola Olukoyede, hailed the convictions and deportations as a major achievement in the country’s ongoing war against cybercrime and financial scams. He restated the agency’s determination to step up investigations, trace and recover stolen funds, and safeguard Nigeria’s global reputation in line with President Bola Tinubu’s anti-corruption policy.
The December 2024 raid, regarded as one of the most significant cybercrime crackdowns in Nigeria’s history, is seen as a decisive step in dismantling transnational fraud networks.
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