The Lagos State Police Command has detained six Liberians over alleged human trafficking, abduction, and an international visa scam.
The suspects, comprising one woman and five men aged between 21 and 40, were apprehended at Gberigbe in the Ikorodu area of Lagos State.
They allegedly specialise in defrauding unsuspecting victims of millions of naira while promising to help them secure a visa for Canada and other countries.
The syndicate allegedly lured victims from Liberia to Nigeria with promises of securing visas, work permits and residency documents for Canada and the UK, collecting huge sums of money for travel arrangements that never materialised, the News Agency of Nigeria, NAN, reports.
However, when the victims arrived Nigeria, their passports and other travel documents are seized.
The first few days after their arrival, the victims are usually accommodated in a hotel. However, after about three days, they get moved to a rented apartment in Ikorodu, where they are detained and pressured to recruit more people into the scheme before they can regain their freedom.
One of the victims, a woman, who realised she had been deceived, reported the case to a friend she met on her way to Nigeria.
The friend, a man, alerted the police, leading to the rescue of the victim and the arrest of the suspects.
Following the report, the Commissioner of Police in Lagos State, Mr Fatai Tijani, directed that the case be transferred from the Imota Police Division to the State Criminal Investigation Department (SCID), Yaba, for comprehensive investigation.
“The investigation is being handled by the Delta Force Anti-Robbery Unit of the SCID under the supervision of the Deputy Commissioner of Police in charge of the department, Mr Dayo Akinbisehin, ” a police source told NAN.
The source added that efforts were ongoing to arrest other members of the syndicate, while the six suspects would be charged in court upon the conclusion of investigations.