FBI Court Filing Confirms Tinubu Was Subject of US Criminal Investigation in 1990s

The United States Federal Bureau of Investigation has acknowledged in a sworn court declaration that Nigerian President Bola Ahmed Tinubu was the subject of a criminal investigation in the United States dating back to the early 1990s.

The declaration was filed on August 28, 2026, before the United States District Court for the District of Columbia as part of an ongoing Freedom of Information Act lawsuit seeking access to records relating to Tinubu.

The case was initiated by American transparency activist Aaron Greenspan, who is seeking records held by US law-enforcement agencies concerning Tinubu, including FBI records and interview materials covering the 1992–1993 period. 

In the latest court filing, the FBI stated that the records sought by Greenspan were compiled in connection with its investigation of multiple individuals for drug-trafficking crimes.

The agency also referred to an earlier court determination that an official acknowledgement had already been made regarding an investigation involving Tinubu. 

The development has renewed attention on a long-running dispute over records concerning Tinubu’s activities in the United States during the 1990s.

The records sought include the FBI’s file on Tinubu and FBI Form 302 interview records connected to an FBI case from the 1992–1993 period. The lawsuit also concerns records related to a 1993 civil forfeiture proceeding involving approximately $460,000. 

The FBI, however, is opposing the full release of the requested records. The agency has invoked several exemptions under the US Freedom of Information Act, arguing that portions of the material should remain protected because disclosure could implicate personal privacy, confidential sources, investigative techniques and other law-enforcement interests. 

The latest filing does not amount to a criminal conviction or a finding that Tinubu committed a drug-trafficking offence. It confirms the existence and official acknowledgement of an investigation, while the underlying records and details of the investigation remain the subject of the court proceedings. 

Tinubu’s legal team has separately challenged the release of records concerning him, arguing that disclosure would infringe on his privacy rights. The legal dispute is continuing before the US federal court.

The latest development follows previous proceedings in which the court ruled that US agencies could no longer simply refuse to confirm or deny the existence of records relating to the investigation. 

The court will ultimately determine what portions of the requested records can be released and what information may lawfully remain withheld.

Two Nigerians Extradited to US Over Sextortion Cases Linked to Deaths of Teenage Boys

Two Nigerian men have been extradited from Nigeria to the United States to face federal charges over alleged financially motivated sextortion schemes involving teenage boys, with U.S. authorities linking the separate cases to the deaths of two minors.

The suspects, identified as 24-year-old Mudasiru Afeez Olawale and 26-year-old Adebola Festus Adekunle, were extradited to the United States on Thursday, August 27, 2026, following investigations involving the Federal Bureau of Investigation and Nigerian authorities.

The U.S. Department of Justice said both men had been arrested in Nigeria in August 2023 as part of a wider FBI operation targeting financially motivated sextortion networks operating from Nigeria and targeting minors in the United States.

Adekunle, a Lagos resident, was arrested on August 14, 2023, and has been charged in Mississippi over an alleged sextortion scheme involving a teenage victim whose death prosecutors say resulted from the abuse.

According to the U.S. Justice Department, Adekunle faces charges including sexual exploitation of a minor resulting in death, production of child sexual abuse material, coercion and enticement of a minor, and interstate threats with intent to extort.

He appeared before a federal court in Oxford, Mississippi, on August 28.

Prosecutors said Adekunle faces a possible life sentence if convicted, while the charge involving sexual exploitation of a minor resulting in death carries a mandatory minimum sentence of 30 years.

Olawale, who was arrested in Nigeria on August 9, 2023, was extradited to the United States to face charges in North Carolina.

The U.S. Department of Justice said he had been indicted in August 2023 on offences relating to the alleged sexual exploitation of minors, coercion and enticement, distribution of child sexual abuse material and interstate threatening communications.

Olawale appeared before a federal magistrate judge in Greensboro, North Carolina, on August 28. The U.S. authorities said the case involves the alleged sextortion of two victims and the death of one teenage victim.

The FBI said the alleged schemes involved financially motivated sextortion, in which victims were allegedly threatened with the release of intimate images unless they provided money or other forms of payment.

The U.S. Justice Department said the two cases form part of a broader international effort to dismantle criminal networks behind financially motivated sextortion, which American authorities say has been linked to the deaths by suicide of dozens of teenagers in the United State.

The extraditions were carried out with the assistance of the U.S. Justice Department’s Office of International Affairs, the FBI Legal Attaché in Abuja and FBI personnel who travelled to Nigeria to take the suspects into U.S. custody.

Nigerian authorities, including the Attorney General of the Federation and Minister of Justice, the Federal Ministry of Justice’s International Criminal Justice Cooperation Department and the Economic and Financial Crimes Commission, also assisted in the operation.

U.S. Attorney General Todd Blanche said the extraditions demonstrated the U.S. government’s determination to pursue individuals accused of exploiting vulnerable children regardless of where they operate.

FBI Director Kash Patel described the two men as high-value targets who had been in Nigeria for about three years after their arrests before being returned to the United States to face prosecution.

The U.S. authorities stressed that the allegations remain accusations and that both men are presumed innocent unless and until they are proven guilty beyond a reasonable doubt in court.

The cases also highlight growing international cooperation between Nigerian and U.S. law enforcement agencies in tackling online sexual exploitation and financially motivated sextortion, particularly crimes targeting minors.