Operatives of the Police Special Fraud Unit (PSFU), Lagos, have arrested three suspects alleged to be behind a cyber blackmail and extortion scheme operating in the state.
The unit’s spokesperson, DSP Ovie Ewhubare, said the suspects obtained explicit photographs of their victims and threatened to make them public unless ransom payments were made.
He explained that the two male suspects and one female were apprehended following a petition from a complainant who reported persistent threats from unknown individuals demanding money.
According to Ewhubare, the complainant received multiple phone calls in which the callers threatened to release her nude photographs if she failed to comply with their demands. Out of fear and emotional distress, she reportedly transferred money to the suspects. The matter escalated when they demanded an additional ₦10 million, prompting her to formally report the case to the police.
He said that upon receiving the petition, the Commissioner of Police, PSFU, Mr Kayode Ojapinwa, ordered the immediate deployment of operatives to investigate the allegations.
“The investigation led to the arrest of the three suspects. Findings revealed that one of them unlawfully accessed the complainant’s mobile phone and fraudulently transferred her nude photographs to his own device. Further investigations showed that he conspired with the other suspects and additional accomplices currently at large to demand and receive money from the complainant in several instalments,” Ewhubare said.
The suspects are currently in police custody and are expected to be arraigned before a court of competent jurisdiction. He added that investigations are ongoing to apprehend other fleeing members of the syndicate and recover all proceeds of the alleged crime.
