Nigeria’s NSCDC says it raids and shuts down a suspected fake university operating from a three-bedroom apartment in Ilado, Olorunda Local Council Development Area of Lagos State. The NSCDC Badagry Area Command says operatives carried out the operation in the early hours of Monday after intelligence gathering and surveillance, rescuing 106 youths described as “students” recruited into the scheme. The agency says the institution had no official name, registration, signboard, or recognised campus, and allegedly presented itself online as a distance-learning centre linked to a foreign university.

According to the NSCDC and reports from multiple outlets, the suspected proprietor allegedly lured applicants from different parts of Nigeria and from neighbouring West African countries with promises of admission to a foreign university. Reported fees include ₦200,000 to ₦1.5 million for Nigerian applicants and $400 to $500 for foreign nationals, with an alleged recruitment-and-commission structure that resembles a Ponzi scheme. Some victims also reportedly earn additional income through online promotion of unidentified products.

The rescued youths are kept in protective custody pending profiling and reunification with families. The arrested proprietor is assisting investigations, and the NSCDC says it plans to expand its probe for possible connections or similar operations elsewhere.