South Africa has extradited six Nigerian nationals to the United States to face charges over an alleged internet-fraud operation that reportedly took more than $6.2 million from over 100 American women.
The men, who were arrested in Cape Town in 2021, were handed to officials from the Federal Bureau of Investigation and the US Secret Service at Cape Town International Airport on Friday.
They are wanted in the United States on charges including wire fraud, money laundering and aggravated identity theft, according to South Africa’s Directorate for Priority Crime Investigation, commonly known as the Hawks.
The transfer comes at an unusually tense moment in relations between Africa’s two largest economies.
Abuja says at least 98 Nigerians have been killed in mob attacks, hate-related violence and alleged extrajudicial killings in South Africa since 2022. Nigeria has also evacuated 1,695 citizens from the country this year.
