The Ogun State Police Command has arrested eight foreign nationals in connection with a case of staged abduction and ransom fraud allegedly carried out by a transnational criminal syndicate.
In a statement issued on Monday, the command said the suspects were involved in fake kidnapping schemes aimed at extorting money from victims’ families abroad.
Five of the suspects — identified as Suren Neta, Koffi Breno, Gondo Treso, Kougasi John, and Hemue Blinsi — are from Ivory Coast. Others include Zakaria Zawadogo from Burkina Faso, Cheik El-Mehdi from Mauritania, and Kunuji Ezekiel from the Republic of Benin.
The police said the arrests were made during an intelligence-led operation in Adiyan town, Agbado area of the state, following credible information and investigation into a reported fake kidnapping case.
According to the statement, the operation was triggered by a complaint received on June 6, 2026, after a 23-year-old Mauritanian, Cheik El-Mehdi, allegedly contacted his family abroad claiming he had been kidnapped in Nigeria and demanding ransom.
He was later joined by another suspect, Zakaria Zawadogo, who allegedly intensified the ransom demand with threats that the victim would be killed if payment was not made.
Acting on intelligence, detectives tracked and arrested Zawadogo, who reportedly led them to the syndicate’s hideout, resulting in the arrest of the remaining suspects.
The police said all suspects were taken into custody and the premises searched in line with due process.
Preliminary investigations revealed that the operation was a coordinated criminal scheme involving a deliberately staged kidnapping to defraud the victim’s family.
Investigators further found that Suren Neta allegedly brought Cheik El-Mehdi into Nigeria, while Zawadogo coordinated ransom demands and issued threats to pressure payment. The so-called victim was also found to have participated in planning the fake abduction.
The suspects — Zawadogo, El-Mehdi, and Neta — have reportedly confessed to their roles, while further investigations are ongoing to uncover possible links to other transnational criminal networks.
The case has been transferred to the State Criminal Investigation Department (SCID) for further discreet investigation.
Commissioner of Police Bode Ojajuni commended the operatives for their swift and professional response, noting that the operation exposed and dismantled a sophisticated criminal plot.
He also reaffirmed the command’s commitment to intelligence-led policing and sustained action against organised crime, stressing that the state remains unsafe for criminal activities.