The Nigeria Immigration Service (NIS) has deported 50 foreign nationals convicted of cyber-terrorism and internet fraud by the Federal High Court in Lagos. This latest action brings the total number of deported foreign nationals to 102 as part of an ongoing exercise.
The deportees were part of a larger group of 192 Chinese and Philippine nationals arrested by the Economic and Financial Crimes Commission (EFCC) in a raid in December 2024. The recent group of deportees includes 50 Chinese nationals and one Tunisian.
The deportations are a result of convictions for various cybercrimes. The Economic and Financial Crimes Commission (EFCC) has been actively cracking down on such activities, including a significant bust in December 2024 of a large-scale crypto fraud and romance scam operation in Lagos.
That raid led to the arrest of 792 suspects, including 193 foreign nationals. The Nigerian government has continued to escalate its efforts to combat cybercrime and protect the integrity of its financial systems, with the NIS acting on court orders to remove convicted foreign criminals.
The deportation exercise, which began on Friday, August 15, 2025, underscores the Nigerian government’s commitment to tackling transnational crime and enforcing its immigration laws. The government has emphasized that it will not tolerate the use of its territory for criminal activities by foreign nationals.
