Nigerian police 'rescue American trapped in romance fraud'

The Nigerian police say they have rescued an American woman who has been trapped in a hotel in Lagos for more than a year as part of a romance fraud.

They say the retired civil servant flew to Nigeria in February 2019 to be with a 34-year-old man who she met on Facebook.

In May 2019 she got married to the man.

He is then accused by the police of taking control of her bank accounts and credit cards and taking $48,000 (£38,000).

The police say they received a tip-off from a "civic-minded" individual and they used the information to go on and rescue her.

Mohammed Zakari, an expert in internet fraud, identity theft and impersonation, falsely claims to be a British citizen. He also poses to be one Kelly Galk on online dating apps which he uses to carry out romance scams and to defraud unsuspecting members of the public, ...

— Nigeria Police Force (@PoliceNG) July 12, 2020