Haruna Usman, a suspected Internet fraudster, was freed by Ogun State Police Command officers after being kidnapped by his accomplices for refusing to share the gains of their crime.
According to information collected by our correspondent, the kidnapped con artist reportedly gave N2,200,000 to other gang members out of the N26,437,950 he allegedly received from a victim in the state.
The suspect’s theft accounts for 91.7% of the entire amount.
The four alleged Internet fraudsters, popularly known as the Yahoo Boys, were reportedly apprehended on Monday, according to a statement released on Thursday by the state police public relations officer, SP Abimbola Oyeyemi.
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 the Owode Egba divisional headquarters that Usman was abducted last Thursday.
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 they recently swindled somebody whose identity is not yet known out of the sum of N26,437,950, but the victim only gave the sum of N2,200,000 to his colleagues, claiming that the money had not been paid completely by their client.
“This infuriated his colleagues, who then lured him to an herbalist home at Orile-Imo and held him hostage there since Thursday, December 22, 2022, with the threat to kill him if he refused to give them their complete share.
“But while they were there, information got to the police, who moved in, rescued the victim and apprehended four of the abductors, while others escaped.”
Oyeyemi said the state Commissioner of Police, Lanre Bankole, had directed that the suspects be transferred to the anti-kidnapping unit of the State Criminal Investigation Department for further investigation and possible prosecution.
