FBI Charges Nigerian Student Over Abduction of U.S. Immigration Agent During Arrest Attempt

The United States Federal Bureau of Investigation has filed criminal charges against a 24-year-old Nigerian national, Damilola Bamigboye, following an incident that escalated from an immigration arrest into the temporary abduction of a federal officer in Minnesota.

According to court filings, Bamigboye was being monitored by Homeland Security Investigations (HSI) agents over allegations of overstaying his student visa. On December 10, agents were conducting surveillance outside his residence in Plymouth when they identified him inside a parked Jeep alongside a female associate, Rekeya Frazier.

As agents moved in, identified themselves, and attempted to question him about his immigration status, Bamigboye reportedly resisted. Investigators say he ordered Frazier to drive off while an HSI agent was partially inside the vehicle, attempting to stop the escape. The Jeep sped away with the agent trapped inside, prompting a brief pursuit by law enforcement vehicles using sirens and emergency lights.

Inside the moving vehicle, the agent repeatedly identified himself as a federal officer and demanded the driver stop. Authorities allege Frazier ignored the commands, threatened to crash the vehicle, and continued driving for several minutes, leading the agent to believe he was being kidnapped.

The situation ended when the Jeep stopped outside a police station in New Hope, Minnesota. Bamigboye fled on foot into a nearby grocery store but was apprehended shortly afterward. Frazier was arrested at the scene after initially refusing to exit the vehicle.

During questioning, Bamigboye admitted struggling with an agent and instructing his accomplice to flee. He claimed his actions were influenced by trauma from a prior kidnapping experience in Nigeria. Investigators, however, maintain there is sufficient evidence that both suspects deliberately attempted to abduct a federal officer to evade arrest.

Both Bamigboye and Frazier have been charged under U.S. federal law for assaulting and forcibly interfering with a federal officer. Bamigboye has since appeared before a federal magistrate judge in Minnesota, where formal proceedings are now underway.