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From Aniekan Aniekan, Calabar
The Nigeria Security and Civil Defence Corps (NSCDC), Cross River State Command, has rescued 42 young men and women allegedly lured with promises of non-existent jobs in South Africa, Malaysia and Côte d’Ivoire and held hostage in a secret five-bedroom facility in Calabar.
The victims, aged between 22 and 36, were rescued on August 14 and 15, 2026, during a coordinated, intelligence-led raid on what the NSCDC described as an “indoctrination and holding camp” allegedly operated by a transnational fraud syndicate.
The State Commandant, CC Okarazu Chima, said the syndicate operated under the guise of a multi-level networking company, allegedly tricking desperate job seekers into paying millions of naira for “international document and visa processing.”
He said the foreign job offers were abandoned immediately after the victims made payment, after which they were allegedly held, indoctrinated and forced into an illegal pyramid scheme.
“Once the money is paid, the foreign job narrative is instantly abandoned. The victims are then held, heavily indoctrinated and forced into an illegal pyramid scheme.
“They are coerced to recruit at least two additional victims to have any hope of recovering their stolen funds,” Chima said.
According to him, the victims were told they would be selling “biodics and jewellery”, but none of those interviewed by the NSCDC had seen any physical product.
“It is all a phantom enterprise built on visual representations on websites and mobile phones,” he added.
The Commandant disclosed that operatives also arrested the alleged prime cell leader of the syndicate, Timothy Bayi, a native of Shiroro Local Government Area of Niger State, during the operation on the night of August 15.
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Bayi allegedly linked the group to a major Service Compliance and Logistics Company headquartered in Lagos, a claim the NSCDC said it was still verifying.
The operation also uncovered the presence of eight foreign nationals among the 42 persons rescued from the facility.
The NSCDC gave the breakdown as 28 Nigerian males, six Nigerian females, five Cameroonians and three Beninoise.
“We are working closely with the Nigeria Immigration Service to properly profile the undocumented foreign nationals,” the Commandant said.
He warned that the syndicate appeared to be highly compartmentalised in a bid to shield its alleged top operators, but vowed that the NSCDC would pursue the network to its financiers and sponsors.
“We will pull this network up by its roots, no matter how deep or highly placed their corporate sponsors may be,” he said.
Chima also cautioned parents and job-seeking youths against falling victim to “get-rich-quick” schemes, urging them to be wary of individuals or organisations demanding huge sums of money upfront in exchange for foreign employment.
Meanwhile, Bayi, the alleged cell leader, said a friend, identified as Samuel, introduced him to the network marketing business about three years ago.
One of the victims, Ogar, from Benue State, said he was introduced to the syndicate after a friend offered him what he believed was a job opportunity in the United Kingdom.
“I attended an interview online and was informed that I was successful in June this year. My relatives helped me raise over one million naira, which I gave to the firm, only to end up in a room in a secretive five-bedroom facility in Calabar,” he said.
