A group, South-South Professional & Transparency Initiatives (SSPTI), has described as “laughable” the recent viral video released by INTERPOL, where individuals and groups in Nigeria were tagged the most active in internet fraud and human trafficking globally, insisting the report was false, baseless, and unfounded.
Specifically, the body noted that indicting Black Axe Confraternity (now a non-existing group in Nigeria) in the report shows the desperation of INTERPOL to justify the huge sum of money allocated to it in the ongoing war against cyber crimes and human trafficking, adding that the issue of internet fraud should not be narrowed down to any group, as it cuts across all races in the world.
Making its stand on the INTERPOL report known in a statement made available to newsmen yesterday, SSPTI noted that the bias of security outfits against Nigerians was clearly demonstrated in the report as it was targeted at damaging the image of the country, especially the Nigeria Police Force (adjudged the best in the continent) before the international community.
It further stated that after a thorough analysis of the said report, it had been established that INTERPOL based its findings on assumptions and street gossip, as it could not give a name or show the face of any member of the group that was arrested in connection to the crimes it purportedly laid claims to in the viral video.
In a statement signed by Dr Ugochukwu Alozie and Kayode Ayomide, Chairman and Secretary, respectively, the body urged the members of the international community to disregard the said report, describing it as a figment of the imagination of the security organisation, which could not substantiate its claim against the group it mentioned in the viral video released recently.
SSPTI statement read in part: “The attention of the above-named group has been drawn to the report of a viral video released by INTERPOL where it fingered Nigerians and members of Black Axe Confraternity (a non-existing group) as being responsible for the series of internet fraud and human trafficking recorded across the globe in recent time.”
“After a careful analysis of the said viral video, we have come to realise that report was false, baseless, and unfounded, as it was hinged purely on assumptions and third-party street gossip to discredit the nation, mostly the Nigeria Police Force (which had been exceptional in crime fighting), before the international community, and we want to urge everyone to discountenance the allegations made by the security outfit.”.
“We have every reason to believe that the report was fabricated out of desperation by INTERPOL to justify the huge allocation made available as security votes to prosecute the ongoing war against internet fraud and other violent crimes globally.”.
“Is it not laughable that in the entire video, there is such an allegation against a Confraternity that no longer exists, as none of its members were paraded to have been arrested? Rather, they are using images of foreigners, mostly women, as those arrested even outside the shores of our country.”.
“It is absurd for anyone to want to narrow down those perpetrating cyber crimes and other related offences to a particular nation and a group, knowing fully well that it’s a global phenomenon involving all the races on the face of the universe, and it is even worse off in the advanced world as against the developing nations,” it concluded.
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