On Wednesday, the Delta State Police Command disclosed that the arrested operators of an academy that was meant to train internet fraudsters in the state had deceived the victims with the conviction that they would be trained in Bitcoin and forex trading. One hundred persons were arrested for the illegal academy by the Nigerian Army in the state.
The clarifications were given in a public post by the command’s Public Relations Officer, Bright Edafe, in a video shared on his X page on Wednesday. The PPRO noted that the suspects who were told different lies had gotten to the academy to discover that it was an area for different hustles from what they were told.
In a special operation carried out by soldiers from the 3rd Battalion Nigerian Army Barracks, they invaded the estate located in the Warry area of the state and captured 100 persons who were suspected to be internet fraudsters. It was disclosed that the school has been training internet fraudsters in the state. The suspects were handed to the police for an intensive investigation.
The Police Public Relations Officer noted that the invasion and arrest of the suspects were made after one of the suspects contacted the family member with the laptop that was provided by the offices of the academy. It was explained that the teenager had told the family about the place where he was trapped and explained the dealings at the academy. It was noted that the family established contact with the family contacted army, which facilitated the operation and the arrest of 123 people who, according to the police, are mostly teenagers.
The PPRO noted that the suspects were led into the notorious cybercrime training network unwillingly after several deceptions they found themselves in a place called Hustlers Kingdom also known as HK.
He explained in the Video posted on X that the police were at the Ekpan Police Station Effurun Divisional HQ for the parade of bout 123 suspected Internet fraudsters who were engaged in Internet fraud.
Edafe disclosed that some of the suspects were brought from Kaduna, Akwa Ibom, and Ibadan to the estate where the training was being held. He also confirmed that the suspects were fed when the authorities felt like it.
He noted that when the individuals are taken to the estate, they are subjected to different physical abuses and exploitation. It has been unclear if the operators of the fraudulent academy have been arrested, as all efforts to speak with the PPRO of the police in state were unsuccessful, and all the messages sent were not responded to.
In a separate operation on September 1, operatives of the Economic and Financial Crimes Commission arrested 48 suspected internet fraudsters in Umudike, Abia State. It was disclosed that the suspects were arrested after an intelligence report from the area.
