Transnational crimes have been causing immigration crises for many countries with their attendant economic, political and social threats. In this report, SUNNY IDACHABA writes that Nigeria also faces similar problems, and it is tackling the situation with operatives raiding hideouts of syndicates, prosecuting and deporting illegal and criminal immigrants.
Transnational crimes are on the increase and they have been causing international immigration crises in many countries. The criminal elements operate terrorism, human trafficking and cyber-related crime networks.
In Nigeria, the authorities have not spared culprits in line with international conventions. In the last couple of months, a good number of foreign nationals found culpable in transnational offences have either been jailed or repatriated to their countries to face charges there. These were carried out at various times by the police and immigration authorities.
Deportations
For instance, recently, the Nigerian Immigration Service (NIS) deported 42 foreign nationals, including Chinese and Philippines who were convicted by a Federal High Court in Lagos for cybercrime-related offences. They were found guilty of engaging in cyber-terrorism, ponzi schemes and other online fraudulent activities.
According to the NIS, the 42 deportees represent the first batch while other convicts would be repatriated in phases. Also recently, an Abuja High Court convicted 21 foreign nationals from China, Indonesia, Brazil, the Philippines, Vietnam and Thailand for cybercrimes and money laundering with each fined ₦1million, and to be thereafter deported within six working days.
This clampdown, according to authoritative sources, is part of the renewed commitment towards tackling transnational cybercrime syndicates operating within Nigeria’s borders. Agencies have been insisting that the coordinated raids and subsequent deportations underscore a multi-pronged strategy to protect Nigeria’s cyberspace and financial system from foreign-led fraud networks.
Similarly, the Nigeria Police repatriated a notorious Chinese fugitive by the name Dai Qisheng back to his country to face charges. Qisheng, a gang leader, was declared wanted in Guizhou Province of China for his involvement in orchestrating violent organised crimes, but fled his country in 2024 after the Public Security Bureau of Zhijin County issued a warrant for his arrest.
He, however, sought refuge in Nigeria until operatives of International Police Organisation (INTERPOL), National Central Bureau Abuja, apprehended him on August 8, 2025. According to the Force spokesman, Muyiwa Adejobi, the fugitive was repatriated to Beijing on August 15, 2025, under the framework of police-to-police cooperation coordinated by INTERPOL.
“The Nigeria Police Force, in a landmark operation executed through the INTERPOL National Central Bureau Abuja, has successfully repatriated a high-profile fugitive Mr. Dai Qisheng to the People’s Republic of China. This decisive action, carried out in collaboration with INTERPOL NCB Beijing and the Embassy of the People’s Republic of China in Nigeria, underscores the Force’s unyielding commitment to its fight against transnational organised crimes,” the police stated.
Adejobi said the Inspector-General of Police, Kayode Egbetokun, described the successful arrest and extradition as a strong statement that Nigeria cannot serve as a hiding place for international fugitives: “This operation not only reaffirms the Nigeria Police Force’s resolve to ensure that no fugitive finds a haven within Nigeria but also reflects the strength of international partnerships in addressing the increasingly complex threats of global crime networks.
“The IGP has reassured the public of Nigeria Police Force’s commitment to continuously improve on international alliances, leveraging intelligence-sharing and operational collaboration to ensure that borders never become barriers to justice. He emphasised that the arrest and repatriation of Dai Qisheng is a clear message to criminals worldwide that the Federal Republic of Nigeria would not be a hiding place for fugitives.”
Continental level
It could be recalled that on the continent, INTERPOL-led synergy tagged, ‘Operation Serengeti 2.0’, was conducted against cyber-criminals between June and August 2025, involving investigators from 18 African countries along with the United Kingdom in which several arrests and repatriations were conducted.
The operation resulted in the arrest of 1,209 suspected cyber-criminals who targeted nearly 88,000 victims across the continent. In all, a total of $97.4 million was recovered and 11,432 pieces of malicious online infrastructure were dismantled. Some of these include the dismantling of 25 cryptocurrency mining centres in Angola where 60 Chinese nationals were illegally validating blockchain transactions.
In Zambia, investigators shut down a large-scale online investment fraud scheme that affected more than 65,000 victims who lost an estimated $300 million. The scheme involved fraudulent advertising promising high-yield returns on cryptocurrency investments and required victims to download multiple apps.
There was also the disruption of inheritance scams in Côte d’Ivoire causing approximately $1.6 million in losses and breaking up a suspected human trafficking network in Zambia. The operation focused on high-impact cyber threats such as ransomware, online scams and business email compromise (BEC) with support from private sector partners and cybersecurity firms providing intelligence and training.
In all, Angola, Benin, Cameroon, Chad, Côte d’Ivoire, Democratic Republic of Congo, Gabon, Ghana, Kenya, Mauritius, Nigeria, Rwanda, Senegal, South Africa, Seychelles, Tanzania, United Kingdom, Zambia, and Zimbabwe participated.
Expert offers insight
Combating transnational criminal and trafficking networks require a multidimensional strategy that safeguards citizens, breaks the financial strength of criminal and terrorist networks, disrupts illicit trafficking networks, defeats transnational criminal organisations, fights government corruption, strengthens the country’s security architecture and foster collaborations with other countries.
According to Donnalene Atienza, an expert investigator in cybercrimes, “The concept of conventional international security tended to focus on a state’s sovereignty and territorial integrity from external military threats.”
He however said the concept of security has evolved in the contemporary world as the threats emanating from non-state forces have considerably risen through the passage of time: “The perpetrators are quick to adapt to the changes in technology, goods mobility and globalisation, thereby taking advantage of them.
“It is more difficult to address this concern because the actors do not execute their deeds solely in one area, nor does the impact occur in one jurisdiction. A significant characteristic of this kind of threat is that its effects transcend across geographical boundaries.”
Transnational crimes treaty
In response to the global threats of transnational organised crimes, the international community signed the United Nations Convention against Transnational Organised Crime (UNTOC) in December 2000 in Italy to promote cooperation, prevent and combat transnational organised crime more effectively.
Activities that can be characterised as transnational organised crime include terrorism, drug trafficking, smuggling of migrants, human trafficking, money laundering, trafficking in firearms, counterfeit goods, wildlife, cultural property, environmental crimes, illegal mining and ecocide.
More insights from experts
Experts have often alluded that there is an evil synergy between transnational crimes and terrorism. That is why Prof. Ibrahim Gambari, the former Chief of Staff to President Muhammadu Buhari, threw a challenge to West African heads of security agencies recently in Abuja that a lot needs to be done to dislodge the several terrorist organisations operating in the sub-region.
Speaking at the African Chiefs of Defence Staff Summit, he said, “According to some research work done by the African Research Network for Regional and Local Governance Innovation with headquarters in Savannah Centre for Democracy and Development here in Nigeria, there are now over 1,000 insurgency groups in Africa and the number keeps rising.
“The majority of our Regional Economic Commission is actually dealing with banditry and terrorism, and other forms of insurgency. So, the REC, which was supposed to be primarily about economic integration, has to, of course, devote a lot of its attention to issues of dealing with banditry, terrorism and insurgency.”
According to Gambari, African nations must strengthen defence industries and own its technologies in an effort to address threats. “There must not only be synergy in military cooperation, promotion of common training, promotion of common doctrinal concepts, sharing of intelligence, the interoperability of armaments, but also capacity building, particularly in air-lifting all of which are essential,” he stressed.
In his remarks, the president of the Economic Community of West Africa States (ECOWAS), Omar Alieu Touray, represented by ECOWAS Commissioner for Political Affairs, Peace and Security, Ambassador Abdel-Fatau Musah, said the Sahel region accounted for 51 per cent of deaths in 2024. He appealed to the United Nations to fund, at least, 75 percent of Africa-led operations to counter terrorism.
For this reason, too, the recent effort of NIS to order the re-arrest of five alleged illegal immigrants employed at Royal Castle Ceramics in Ogun state received public commendation following public outrage over their sudden release.
They were initially arrested and slated for deportation under Section 44 of the Immigration Act, but discharged through unofficial lobbying by a retired senior NIS officer. The service however mandated their immediate re-apprehension effective from Friday, August 22, 2025.
The individuals are Zhang Damou (46), sales manager; Qian Jin (48), sales manager on a Temporary Work Permit (TWP); Tang Pan (41), interpreter on TWP; Lin Jianfeng (52), business manager on TWP; and Guo Zhengheng (40), sales manager on a Business Visa.
It is believed that continuous deportation and repatriation of cyber-related culprits would help to checkmate transnational crimes in Nigeria.