The Nigeria Police Force National Cybercrimes Centre (NPF-NCCC) has arrested seven suspects over alleged involvement in several cyber-related offences, including money laundering, business email compromise, identity theft, blackmail, romance scams and other internet-related crimes.
The Assistant Inspector-General of Police in charge of the centre, Akaninyene Ezima, disclosed the arrests during a press briefing in Abuja on Wednesday.
Ezima said the arrests followed separate investigations into alleged cybercrime operations, including a sophisticated business email compromise scheme and an international investment fraud and money laundering operation.
In one of the cases, a suspect was arrested following a request from Germany’s Federal Criminal Police Office, the Bundeskriminalamt (BKA), to preserve data linked to an internet protocol address allegedly used in a business email compromise operation.
The investigation, codenamed Operation Broken Mask, was conducted in collaboration with the BKA and the Royal Canadian Mounted Police under the Budapest Convention 24/7 Network.
According to the police, the suspect was arrested at his residence in Megamound Estate, Lekki, Lagos, after investigators allegedly linked him to the operation.
A forensic examination of devices recovered during the investigation reportedly uncovered more than 12.5 million email logs belonging to victims across more than 50 countries.
Ezima said the suspect allegedly used compromised business email credentials in the scheme and that investigations indicated he made more than N100 million from the operation. A Mercedes-Benz AMG GLC 43 allegedly acquired with proceeds of crime was also recovered, according to the police.
In another case, the NPF-NCCC arrested the owner of a technology company over alleged international cyber-enabled investment fraud and money laundering.
The investigation followed a petition over an alleged fraudulent investment scheme in which complainants reportedly lost N56.3 million after being persuaded to invest in a WhatsApp-based stock trading platform that promised high returns.
Police said investigations traced the funds through accounts allegedly linked to the suspected syndicate. An examination of one of the accounts reportedly showed about N3.2 billion in terminal cash inflows and outflows between October 2025 and May 2026.
Further investigations allegedly revealed that approximately N3.6 billion in suspected proceeds of crime was converted into Tether (USDT) through peer-to-peer cryptocurrency transactions.
The police also disclosed the arrest of two suspects in Anambra State over alleged conspiracy, identity theft, impersonation and computer-related fraud following a complaint involving the alleged impersonation of a senior government official on WhatsApp and Facebook.
Items recovered from the suspects reportedly included registered and unregistered SIM cards from different telecommunications networks, as well as other materials connected with the investigation.
The police said the arrests formed part of ongoing efforts by the National Cybercrimes Centre to dismantle cybercrime networks, trace suspected criminal proceeds and strengthen collaboration with international law-enforcement agencies.
The suspects are facing allegations, and the investigations remain ongoing.
