The public was informed on Saturday by the National Drug Law Enforcement Agency, or NDLEA, of a new scam by con artists posing as its officials. The message was directed at people who have loved ones living overseas.
According to the agency, the latest technique entails con artists phoning gullible people to tell them that their relatives have been arrested for illegal drug possession upon arrival in Nigeria at any international airport, including Murtala Muhammed International Airport in Ikeja, Lagos, or any other.
The NDLEA’s Director of Media and Advocacy, Femi Babafemi, revealed this in a statement.
He revealed that they first incite fear in the family members before demanding millions of naira to help free these individuals from detention.
Babafemi declared: “We have stopped several such attempts in the past when the relatives requested assistance or clarification by calling the Agency’s designated contacts.
“The Navigating Economic Challenges: Government’s Strategies Amid Economic HeadwindsAgency has recently looked into one of these eventualities at this time. In this instance, an audio recording of a fictitious NDLEA officer arranging the payment of N5 million to a female relative in exchange for the release of a Nigerian man residing in the US who was allegedly detained at the Lagos airport on Friday, March 22, upon his arrival with “contraband,” along with a photo of the man are being shared online.
As with earlier cases, our investigation has demonstrated that con artists are responsible for the present situation. The individual whose photo is attached and the audio chat are not involving any NDLEA officers as of yesterday or any other day, the audio recording that is being distributed is not under our control at MMIA or any of our commands.
According to a representative for the NDLEA, the family members in this situation are encouraged not to give con artists their hard-earned money.
In order to prevent criminal elements from using conversations about their relatives’ trip plans for nefarious purposes, he added asked Nigerians who have loved ones living overseas to keep such conversations private.
The NDLEA advised anyone who might be facing a similar issue to get in touch with them at +2347064670026 or +2348033326327 to ask for assistance or explanation.
