Officers of the Ogun State Police Command have rescued a suspected internet fraudster, Haruna Usman, abducted by colleagues for withholding proceeds.
Local media reports indicate that the kidnapped fraudster reportedly released N2,200,000 out of N26,437,950 to other members of his fraud syndicate allegedly obtained from a victim in the state.
The Police Public Relations Officer in the state, SP Abimbola Oyeyemi, disclosed this in a statement on Thursday.
Oyeyemi said the four suspected internet fraudsters popularly known as yahoo boys, were arrested on Monday.
He said the suspects, Agbe Simeon, Messiah Nicky, Oladapo Dolapo and Yetunde Shonola were arrested at Orile-Imo village in the Obafemi Owode Local Government area of the state.
The PPRO said their arrest followed a tip-off received by the Police at Owode Egba divisional headquarters, that Usman, had been abducted since last week Thursday and was still being held hostage somewhere in Orile-Imo.
Oyeyemi said “upon the information, the DPO Owode-Egba division, CSP Popoola Olasunkanmi, quickly mobilised his men and stormed the area, where four of the abductors were apprehended while two others escaped.
“Preliminary investigation revealed that the victim and the suspects belong to an internet fraud syndicate and that they recently swindled somebody whose identity is not yet known of the sum of N26,437,950, but the victim (suspect) only gave the sum of #2,200,000 to his other colleagues, claiming that the money has not been paid completely by their client.
“This infuriated his colleagues who then lured him to a herbalist home at Orile-Imo and held him, hostage, there since Thursday, December 22, 2022, with a threat to kill him there if he refused to give them their complete share.
“But while they were there, information got to the police who moved in, rescue the victim and apprehended four amongst the abductors, while others escaped.”
Oyeyemi, however, said the Commissioner of Police, Lanre Bankole, has directed that the suspects be transferred to Anti kidnapping unit of the State Criminal Investigation Department for further investigation and possible prosecution.
