Six Nigerians extradited to US over alleged Ksh.700M romance scams

The Directorate for Priority Crime Investigation, known as the Hawks, facilitated their handover to officials from the US Federal Bureau of Investigation and Secret Service at Cape Town International Airport, in collaboration with INTERPOL South Africa.

The men are wanted in the US on charges including wire fraud and money laundering. They are allegedly linked to Black Axe, a Nigerian-founded organised crime network associated with cyberfraud and other serious crimes.

“Among the alleged victims were pensioners and businesspeople who were reportedly targeted through sophisticated online relationships used to defraud them of their money,” Hawks spokesperson Colonel Katlego Mogale said.

The six were arrested in Cape Town in October 2021 during a joint operation involving South African and US law-enforcement agencies.

Mogale said that, through coordination with INTERPOL South Africa, the six were transported from a correctional facility in Cape Town to Cape Town International Airport, where they were handed over to officials from the Federal Bureau of Investigation (FBI) and the United States Secret Service.

The six men named in the 2021 US indictments were Perry Osagiede, Franklyn Edosa Osagiede, Osariemen Eric Clement, Collins Owhofasa Otughwor, Musa Mudashiru and Toritseju Gabriel Otubu.

US prosecutors identified the first five, along with Enorense Izevbigie, as leaders of the Cape Town zone of the Neo Black Movement of Africa, also known as Black Axe. Otubu was charged separately and accused of conspiring with a founding member and leader of the organisation’s Cape Town zone.

Izevbigie was extradited separately to the US in December 2024.

Prosecutors allege that members of the network operated from Cape Town between 2011 and 2021, using false identities to establish online relationships with victims before persuading them to send money or valuable goods.

The alleged schemes included romance scams, advance-fee fraud and business email compromise.

In many cases, the alleged scammers claimed to have travelled to South Africa for work before encountering an emergency and needing money. Victims were then allegedly persuaded to send money or valuable items to South Africa.

Prosecutors said the accused used social media, online dating websites and internet-based telephone numbers to communicate with victims while operating under aliases.

They also allegedly used bank accounts and business entities to move and disguise the proceeds of the schemes.

Black Axe grew out of the Neo Black Movement of Africa, which was founded in Benin City, Nigeria, in the late 1970s. International law-enforcement agencies describe Black Axe as a transnational organised crime network involved in cyber-enabled financial crime.

The wire-fraud and money-laundering conspiracy charges each carry maximum prison sentences of 20 years under US law. Some of the accused also face wire-fraud and aggravated identity-theft charges.

The charges remain allegations, and the men are presumed innocent unless convicted.