On a quiet Sunday afternoon in Lagos, the air around the Murtala Muhammed International Airport carried a different kind of weight. At exactly 2:00 p.m., the first batch of 42 convicted cybercriminals—Chinese and Philippine nationals—were escorted onto a waiting aircraft, marking the start of one of Nigeria’s largest mass deportations in recent history.
Their journey out of Nigeria closes a dark chapter that began eight months ago, when operatives stormed Oyin Jolayemi Street, Victoria Island, on December 10, 2024. In what authorities now describe as a “turning point” operation, 759 suspects were arrested from a nondescript building that turned out to be the nerve centre of a sprawling cyber-fraud and Ponzi scheme network.
Of those arrested, 192 foreigners were eventually convicted after months of prosecution by the Economic and Financial Crimes Commission (EFCC). Their crimes ranged from impersonating victims online to training recruits at Genting International Co. Limited—a company investigators say was set up to institutionalize fraud.
As the first plane carrying the deportees took off, EFCC Chairman Ola Olukoyede called the move a milestone.
“Nigeria is drawing a line in the sand,” he said. “We will not allow cybercriminals to undermine our financial system or our dignity as a nation. These convictions and deportations reaffirm our commitment to President Bola Tinubu’s anti-corruption agenda.”
The remaining 150 convicts will follow in batches on Monday and Tuesday, according to the Nigerian Immigration Service, which has formally taken custody of all the deportees.
For security analysts, the December raid was more than just another bust—it was a wake-up call. The sheer scale of the operation, the number of foreign nationals involved, and the sophistication of their scheme highlighted the global nature of cybercrime and the risks it poses to Nigeria’s digital and financial space.
As the aircraft disappeared into the Lagos sky, officials framed the moment as symbolic: a clear signal that Nigeria is ready to match rhetoric with action in the fight against transnational crime.
