The Delta State Police Command has paraded 123 Internet fraudsters, who specialise in luring teenagers from across the country through social media in Ekpan Uvwie Local Government Area, Delta State.
Police Public Relations Officer, SP Bright Edafe, on Wednesday, narrated how the suspected fraudsters were arrested.
According to Edafe, the suspects lure teenagers of 17 to 20 years to a particular Estate in Effurun where they beat them and force them into joining Hustler’s Kingdom (HK).
The suspects, he said, flaunt wealth on social media to lure these unsuspecting boys all the way from Kaduna, Ibadan and Akwa Ibom to hack people’s Facebook page and commit fraud.
In a way to convince the boys, the suspects would lie to them that they got their money from Forex and Crypto trading.
The suspects’ hideouts were subsequently raided and arrested after one of the boys from Kaduna, whom they had beaten mercilessly and forced to join, reached out to his mother about it who later spoke to a relative in the military.
“We are here at Ekpan Police Station in Uvwie Local Government Area where we will be parading about 123 suspected Internet fraudsters who were engaged in the business of Internet fraud.
“They were all placed in a particular house in one Estate in Effurun Warri road where they do what they called HK. They said HK means Hustlers Kingdom.
“They engage their agent, who go on social media to flaunt wealth that most times are not even theirs and convince unsuspecting boys of the age of 17- 20 that they want to teach them Forex and crypto business.
“They lure them all the way from Kaduna, Akwa Ibom and Ibadan to that particular estate and beat the hell out of them which is a way of welcoming them.
“They feed them only when they feel like feeding them. One of them said that when they go to the bathroom to bathe, they would seize their clothes and tell them that there is no going back.
“One of them who came from Kaduna told them he couldn’t do it and that they should allow him to go back but they refused.
“One of the boys then used the laptop they use in doing fraud to reach out to his mum who quickly reached out to their relative who was a member of the military and they came in their numbers and raided that estate and arrested over 123 Internet fraudsters.
“Another one from Ibadan said he studied in Arabic School and he needed money to go to Cairo in Egypt, met one of his friends whom he asked for N150,000 and that guy told him that people that are below him are even living larger than him,
“He then asked him to come to Warri so he could teach him how to make money.
“So he came and that friend took him to the estate, but with the way they were locking the gate, he became apprehensive and asked them what he was there to do and they told him it was Internet fraud.
“He told them he was an Alfa that he couldn’t do it but they told him there was no going back. That was how they welcomed him with beating.
“They beat him to the point that he had to excrete and pee on himself so he had no choice but to stay back.
“The guy said that since he left Ibadan, he has not spoken to his family and they had not allowed him access to sunlight,” he narrated.
SP Edafe, therefore, advised parents to be conversant with the whereabouts of their children and wards and to ask questions when they come home with ill-gotten wealth.
“This is what is happening and this is why we must continue to monitor our kids and wards. When we can’t find them for sometime, we should look for them.
“When they come back home with unexpected and ill gotten wealth, we should ask questions, we should not continue to tolerate this,” he said.
Speaking with one of the boys identified as Gideon Michael said: “My name is Gideon Michael. I am from Akwa Ibom State. I am 17 years old. I came to the estate to hustle. I have been there for a month. We only eat morning and evening.
“We sleep from 5 o’clock to 9 o’clock in a day. When we wake up by that time, we work from that time till 5:00 o’clock.
“Our work is to hack Facebook. They seized our phone and allow us to make calls only on Sundays.”
“Meanwhile, the suspects will be charged to court when investigations are concluded,” Edafe noted.
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