09/10/2026
OWOLABI GANIYU, SOMOYE ARRESTED OVER SELLING GREEN CARDS, CITIZENSHIPS FOR CASH
Two Nigerians, Lukman Owolabi Ganiyu, a former senior immigration services officer with the U.S. Citizenship and Immigration Services (USCIS), and Adeniyi Akeem Somoye, have been arrested in the United States over an alleged scheme to receive illegal payments in exchange for manipulating and expediting immigration applications.
According to the complaint, Ganiyu allegedly exploited his official position between December 2019 and March 2026 to approve various immigration applications in exchange for money.
Investigators alleged that Ganiyu bypassed several mandatory immigration procedures to unlawfully expedite applications.
These allegedly included required interviews, supervisory reviews, jurisdictional restrictions, background checks and other standard USCIS processing protocols.
Ganiyu and Somoye are also accused of collecting hundreds of thousands of dollars from applicants, with investigators identifying several payments that allegedly corresponded directly with immigration approvals issued by Ganiyu.
Investigators reportedly uncovered extensive WhatsApp communications between Ganiyu, Somoye and numerous applicants whose immigration cases they handled.
The communications allegedly included thousands of messages and hundreds of telephone calls exchanged during the period covered by the investigation.
R. Joseph Rothrock, FBI Dallas Special Agent in Charge, said the alleged conduct undermined the integrity of the US immigration system.