ICE confirmed that Anwana, who has been under a final order of removal since 2021, was taken into custody on August 29, 2025, by its Baltimore Field Office.
“Another dangerous criminal, an illegal alien, is in custody thanks to the hard work of ICE officers,” the agency said in a statement posted on X (formerly Twitter).
Anwana’s arrest comes just weeks after another Nigerian, Abdulwaris Akinsanya, was detained in Texas by ICE after being linked to a federal romance scam case involving fraud and forgery.
According to reports, ICE has stepped up its crackdown on foreign nationals with criminal convictions in the United States. The agency noted that Anwana will remain in ICE custody pending his removal to Nigeria after completing his sentence.
In recent months, several Nigerians have been apprehended or sentenced for serious offenses in the U.S. Earlier this year, a 45-year-old Nigerian was arrested in Rhode Island for indecent solicitation of a child, while another, Owolabi Adeyinka, was sentenced in New Orleans for wire fraud conspiracy.
ICE reiterated that the arrests are part of its national operation targeting unlawfully present sex offenders, adding that “any criminal caught will be deported to their home country after serving their jail term.”
Anwana’s conviction and pending deportation have once again drawn attention to the rising number of Nigerians involved in criminal cases abroad, prompting renewed calls for moral and legal accountability among nationals living overseas.
