Etim Effiong
Police operatives have rescued an American citizen, who was confined in a Lagos hotel, where she was held against her will for 16 months.
The victim, whose name was not given by the police on Sunday, is said to have come from Washington DC, USA and is a retired civil servant in America.
According to a statement from the Force Public Relations Officer, DCP, Frank Mba, the woman arrived in Nigeria on February 13, 2019 on a visit to one Chukwuebuka Obiaku, 34, a native of Ikeduru Local Government Area of Imo State whom she met on Facebook.
It was learnt that the woman was rescued by police operatives attached to the Intelligence Response Team (IRT), Ogun State Annex, following a tip-off in Meran area of Lagos.
The rescue of the American woman comes on the heels of a similar case of an abducted Philippino woman, who was lured to Nigeria by her supposed lover, whom she equally met on Facebook.
Mba said investigations revealed that Obiaku is a graduate of Business Administration and Management as well as an internet fraudster, who has defrauded many unsuspecting members of the public both locally and internationally.
The suspect is said to have lured the victim into the country under the pretext of love and deceitfully married her on May 15, 2019.
Mba said, “He subsequently held her captive in a hotel, extorted from her monies amounting to a total of 48,000 United States dollars.
“He also forcefully collected and took control of her credit and debit cards as well as the operation of her bank accounts, including the receipt of her monthly retirement benefits and allowances over the period of 15 months.
“Obiaku also used the victim as a front to defraud her associates and other foreign personalities and companies.”
Meanwhile, Mba stated that operatives of the Nigeria Police Cybercrime Unit, INTERPOL National Central Bureau (NCB), Abuja arrested three suspects — Samson Inegbenesun, 30; Blessed Junior, 32; and Muhammed Zakari, 36 — all male from Uromi in Edo State, for cyber-related offences, including advance fee fraud, money laundering and romance scam.
He said they were said to have been arrested in Uromi, following investigations into suspected fraudulent online procurement and supply of COVID-19 protective masks, received through the INTERPOL NCB Wiesbaden, Germany.
Police said investigations revealed that Inegbenosun is an internet fraudster and a member of a Turkey-based online scamming syndicate.
“He supplies foreign and local bank accounts to receive fraudulent funds and use same as conduit to other feeder accounts.
“Meanwhile, the Police have recovered from him, a building apartment worth N20,000,000.00, a Toyota RAV-4 2015 model worth N6,500,000.00 and a Toyota Matrix 2002 model valued at N2,000,000.00 which he procured with the proceeds of the crime.
“The second suspect, Blessed Junior, returned to Nigeria from Italy in February 2020 but maintains close contacts and illicit dealings with his Italian associates.
“Investigations revealed that he has made over One Hundred and Twenty Million Naira (N120,000,000.00) from internet fraud and other cybercrime dealings.
“He also received the sum of 52,000 EUROs recently from his criminal associates in Italy as commission for his active involvement in an international cybercrime deal.
He also owns a filling station established with the proceeds of the crime.
“Mohammed Zakari, an expert in internet fraud, identity theft and impersonation, falsely claims to be a British citizen. He also poses to be one Kelly Galk on online dating apps, which he uses to carry out romance scams and to defraud unsuspecting members of the public, locally and internationally. Investigation reveals he has made millions of naira from his illicit cybercrime transactions since he
joined the syndicate,” Mba added.
Force PRO stated that all the suspects would be charged on conclusion of investigation and prosecuted in line with the Cybercrime Prevention/Prohibition Act, 2015.