Thursday, August 27, 2026 - The Nigeria Police Force National Cybercrime Centre has arrested a suspected online romance scammer, Abdulwajeed Abdullahi, for allegedly defrauding victims of N3.5m and $1,500 and attempting to extort a woman by threatening to release her nude photographs and videos.
The suspect, who allegedly operated online under the
pseudonym “Captain Junaid,” was arrested at his residence in Kano State on
August 4, 2026, following an investigation into a petition by a female victim.
The Director, Nigeria Police Force National Cybercrime
Center, AIG Akaninyene Ezima, disclosed this in Abuja on Wednesday, August 26,
2027.
Ezima said the investigation began after a petition dated
July 28, 2026, from a female complainant, who alleged that the suspect had
engaged her in an online romantic relationship before allegedly demanding
$3,000 and threatening to publish her intimate materials.
According to him, the suspect initially contacted the woman
on TikTok on June 18 before moving the conversation to WhatsApp.
“The suspect developed a romantic relationship with the
complainant and allegedly induced her to send intimate photographs and
videos," Ezima said.
"On 18th July, 2026, the suspect demanded US$3,000.00
and threatened to release the intimate materials if payment was not made,”
Ezima said.
The police chief said further investigation uncovered other
alleged victims linked to the same online identity.
"Further investigation identified another victim, also
reported losing N3,500,000.00 to the same ‘Captain Junaid’ identity,” he said.
Ezima said another female victim from Bauchi State allegedly
paid the suspect $1,500 under a purported foreign exchange trading arrangement.
"Through Open-Source Intelligence and other
investigative techniques, the person behind the ‘Captain Junaid’ account was
identified as Abdulwajeed Abdullahi and traced to Kano State,” the AIG stated.
He said operatives subsequently arrested the suspect at his
residence on August 4.
According to Ezima, forensic examination of devices recovered from Abdullahi revealed intimate photographs and videos belonging to multiple women.
“Forensic examination of devices recovered from the suspect revealed intimate photographs and videos belonging to multiple females, as well as forged academic certificates and identity cards bearing the suspect’s photograph but different names,” he said.
ThebLAIG said the suspect confessed during interrogation,
admitting that he commenced romance scam activities in January 2026 and had
been operating the “Captain Junaid” identity to obtain money under false
pretences.“
He admitted receiving ₦3,500,000.00 from a victim and
US$1,500.00 from another and threatening the complainant with the release of
her intimate photographs,” Ezima said.
The suspect also allegedly admitted using the identity,
photographs and publicly available materials of a Saudi pilot identified as
“Captain Abdullahi Rajhi” to create the fake “Captain Junaid” persona.
He further disclosed that some of the photographs and videos
used in his impersonation activities were obtained from Telegram groups.
Ikn another case, the police arrested David Temitope in Lagos over an
alleged sophisticated Business Email Compromise operation.
The suspect was arrested at his residence in Megamound
Estate, Lekki, Lagos, on July 20, following an investigation conducted in
collaboration with foreign law enforcement agencies under the Budapest
Convention 24/7 Network.
According to Ezima, forensic examination of devices
recovered from the suspect yielded more than 12.5 million victim email logs
involving victims in over 50 countries, including Canada, Germany, the United
States, India, France and the Netherlands.sThe uspect’s Bank Verification
Number was also linked to accounts with six financial institutions and fintech
platforms, including GTBank, Zenith Bank, FairMoney, Carbon, OPay and PalmPay.
Mercedes-Benz AMG GLC 43, suspected to have been acquired
with proceeds of crime, was also recovered.“The investigation further
established that the suspect made in excess of N100,000,000.00 from the
criminal enterprise,” Ezima said.
He explained that the suspect allegedly used phishing kits
obtained from a vendor on Telegram to compromise Microsoft 365 login
credentials belonging to employees of targeted companies.
In another investigation, the Centre arrested Kelechi Sistus
Ihekaire, proprietor of Kestart Technology, over an alleged international
cyber-enabled investment fraud and money laundering operation.
The investigation followed a petition over the alleged
fraudulent loss of N56.29m by victims who were induced to participate in a
WhatsApp-based stock trading platform promising high returns.
Ezima said investigations traced the funds through several
entities, while Kestart Technology allegedly served as a terminal off-ramp for
proceeds associated with the syndicates.
He said a reconstruction of Kestart Technology’s account
showed terminal cash-out inflows and outflows totalling N3.62bn between October
2025 and May 2026.
“Further investigation revealed that approximately N3.62
billion in suspected proceeds of crime was converted into Tether (USDT)
stablecoins through Bybit Peer-to-Peer transactions,” the AIG said.
Ihekaire was arrested in Lagos on August 13 and allegedly
admitted ownership of Kestart Technology and involvement in peer-to-peer
cryptocurrency trading on Bybit.
The police said they would pursue legal processes for the
forfeiture of funds under lien in the company’s account and associated
cryptocurrency assets, with a view to facilitating victim restitution where
applicable.
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