The Commission of Economic and Financial Crimes (EFCC) says on Wednesday that it has arrested 34 suspected internet scammers in Ado-Ekiti and Ilorin, the capitals of Ekiti and Kwara states, respectively.
EFCC spokesman Wilson Uwujaren said the commission arrested 30 of the suspects, 28 men and two women, at different locations in Ado-Ekiti based on credible intelligence.
The suspects, according to the statement, include Godspower Falodun, Omoniyi Pelumi, Victor Damilola, Akerele Olugbenga, Oluwatosin Alade, Abayomi Aderinwa, Ologunsoro Ayodeji, Olakunle Bidemi, Emmanuel Olukayode, Ojo Tobi, Ayeni Kayode, Ezekiel Ayomide, Tunde Lukman, Onikoyi. Tobi, Busayo Obadu, Abiodun Taofeek, Ajayi Opeyemi, and Ebenezer Ayodeji.
The rest are Akinola Paul, Jacob Wisdom, Akinrinmola Olumide, Lawrence Abimbola, Tope Abejide, Busuyi Ajewole, Seyi Ajewole, Sunday Pelumi, Sunday Pelumi, Fapohunda Paul and Aguh Henry, while Omowumi Victoria and Peace Beloved were the only women among the suspects. .
Uwujaren said the commission recovered items including six exotic cars worth millions of naira, 47 different brands of phones and 16 laptops from the suspects at the point of arrest.
He said commission agents similarly arrested four people suspected of being involved in similar crimes over the weekend in Ilorin.
The EFCC spokesperson said that the suspects, Oyewole Damilare, Abdul-salam Quzeem, Mohammed Bello and Olusanya Idowu Lukman, were arrested in Agric Estate, Sango area of Ilorin “after a tip about their alleged harmful activities”.
The commission recovered items including expensive phones, laptops of different brands and a car from the suspects at the point of arrest, the statement added.
He added that the suspects would be prosecuted in court upon the conclusion of the ongoing investigations.
The arrests are the latest in a series of what has become routine in the EFCC’s crackdown on Internet fraud suspects, also known as ‘yahoo-yahoo’ in Nigerian parlance.
