NSCDC rescues over 120 victims, arrests 18 in Lagos

Nigerian security forces have concluded a series of major operations across two states this week, rescuing victims of complex fraud and trafficking schemes and convening local stakeholders to address longstanding communal conflicts. In Lagos, authorities dismantled a network involving a fake university and a trafficking ring, while in Imo State, police moved to broker a community-led solution to farmer-herder violence.

In Lagos, the Nigeria Security and Civil Defence Corps announced the results of coordinated raids conducted between July 14 and July 20 across several communities in the Badagry area. In a significant operation on July 20, officers stormed a suspected fake university operating from a three-bedroom apartment in the Imeke area of Olorunda Local Council Development Area. Authorities arrested six suspects and rescued 107 students allegedly lured into the unaccredited institution with promises of foreign university admission, only to be compelled into a Ponzi investment scheme.

In a separate but related action earlier in the week, NSCDC operatives also targeted human trafficking and illegal migration networks. On July 19, a Cameroonian national was arrested for...