No fewer than 42 young men and women were lured with promises of non-existent jobs in South Africa, Malaysia and Ivory Coast, and held hostage in a secret five-bedroom facility in Calabar.

🇳🇬 Here's What Happened

The Nigeria Security and Civil Defence Corps, Cross River State Command, explained that the victims, aged between 22 and 36, were rescued on August 14 and 15, 2026, during a coordinated, intelligence-led raid an “indoctrination and holding camp” run by a transnational fraud syndicate.

The State NSCDC Commandant, Okarazu Chima on Tuesday, said the syndicate operated under the guise of a multi-level networking company and tricked desperate job seekers into paying millions of naira for “international document and visa processing.”

He said, “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.

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“They are coerced to recruit at least two additional victims to have any hope of recovering their stolen funds.

“The victims were told they would be selling jewellery, but not a single person interviewed had seen any physical product.

“It is all a phantom enterprise built on visual representations on websites and mobile phones”.

The commandant said operatives also arrested the prime cell leader of the syndicate, Timothy Bayi, a native of Shiroro Local Government Area of Niger State, on the night of August 15.

Bayi allegedly linked the group to a major service compliance and logistics company in Lagos, a claim the NSCDC said it is currently verifying.

He added said eight of the 42 persons in custody are foreign nationals found without valid travel documents.

📰 Source: Punch Nigeria