The Nigeria Police Force has apprehended two high-profile international fugitives wanted for human trafficking, sexual exploitation, and organised crime in Europe and the Middle East.
In Benin City, Edo State, police operatives arrested Felix Omoregie, also known as “Eghosa Johnson Omoregie,” for orchestrating a transnational human trafficking network that exploited young Nigerian women across Europe. The network allegedly used voodoo-based oaths and fabricated debts of up to €50,000 to trap victims into sexual slavery.
The Nigerian Police, in a statement, disclosed that Omoregie had been declared wanted by Belgian authorities through an INTERPOL Red Notice issued on 19 December 2023. His arrest followed intelligence-led operations by Nigerian police forces.
Investigations revealed that Omoregie trafficked women—including minors—to Italy, and later deployed them across various European countries for sexual exploitation. Victims were made to swear ritualistic oaths and saddled with fake bondage debts, a psychological control mechanism used to ensure their obedience and continued exploitation.
The trafficking syndicate maintained active handlers in Brussels and France, who oversaw the victims’ movements and remitted profits back to Omoregie.
He was convicted in absentia in 2021 by a Belgian court on multiple counts of aggravated human trafficking and criminal organisation leadership, but had fled to Nigeria before sentencing. Upon his recent arrest, officers found incriminating materials, including a photocopy of a passport linked to a planned relocation to Canada.
Omoregie will soon be arraigned at the Federal High Court in Benin City to face charges related to his international criminal activities and fugitive status.
Second Fugitive Arrested in Enugu State
In a separate but coordinated operation, Nigerian police also performed a second fugitive arrested in Enugu State, arresting Okwudili Sabastine Ezeje, aged 37, a fugitive wanted by the United Arab Emirates (UAE) for crimes including armed robbery, cultism, drug trafficking, and organised criminal activity.
Ezeje was apprehended in Nsukka, Enugu State, by operatives of the INTERPOL National Central Bureau (NCB), Abuja.
According to intelligence reports, even while in hiding in Nigeria, Ezeje continued to remotely coordinate high-level criminal operations in Dubai and Sharjah. He has been linked to a series of violent robberies, including:
An attack on a grocery store in Dubai Mall
A robbery at Al Ansari Exchange in Jumeirah
A heist at a Bureau de Change in Jebel Ali Village
His arrest was made possible through strategic intelligence-sharing and cooperation between the Nigeria Police Force, the Office of the National Security Adviser (ONSA), and Dubai Police.
Ezeje is also set to be arraigned in court to answer to the multiple charges tied to his criminal enterprise.