M10News Crime Desk|21 August 2025
The Economic and Financial Crimes Commission (EFCC), working with the Nigerian Immigration Service (NIS), has deported 51 foreign nationals convicted of cyber-terrorism and internet fraud by Nigerian courts.
The EFCC confirmed the development in a statement issued on Thursday, saying the deportees comprised 50 Chinese nationals and one Tunisian. Their removal brings the total number of convicted foreigners expelled since August 15 to 102.
According to the Commission, the group was part of 192 foreign suspects arrested during a large-scale sting operation in Lagos.
Officials described it as one of the biggest crackdowns on foreign-led cybercrime syndicates operating in Nigeria.
The suspects were detained on December 19, 2024, during an EFCC-led operation codenamed Eagle Flush. The coordinated raid targeted a network accused of running cryptocurrency scams and romance fraud schemes that allegedly defrauded hundreds of victims both locally and overseas.
The EFCC said the convicts faced separate trials under the Cybercrime (Prohibition, Prevention, Etc.) Act of 2015, which was updated in 2024 to cover emerging forms of digital crime.
Authorities revealed that intelligence-sharing with international law enforcement partners helped uncover multiple cybercrime hubs operating out of luxury apartments and technology centres in Lagos, Abuja and Port Harcourt.
Investigators linked some of the offences to cyberterrorism, a charge increasingly applied in high-profile EFCC prosecutions. Officials said such crimes are designed to undermine Nigeria’s financial security and disrupt the wider digital economy.
The latest expulsions follow Sunday’s deportation of 42 Chinese and Philippine nationals, also convicted of cybercrime and Ponzi scheme offences. That group represented the first batch of foreign convicts scheduled for removal.
The NIS said the wider deportation drive will continue in the coming days as both agencies finalise the removal of all 192 convicted foreigners linked to the December raids.
Editing by M10News Crime Desk | Contact: crime@m10news.com
© 2025 M10News. All rights reserved. Unauthorised reproduction is prohibited
