Operatives of the Zone 2 headquarters of the Nigeria Police Force (NPF) have arrested three individuals over alleged involvement in fraud, forgery and romance scams.
The suspects were identified as Tega Emmanuel, Jacob Olatunde, and Gift Okubakpere.
In a statement issued on Thursday, Afolayan Gbenga, spokesperson for Zone 2, said Emmanuel was apprehended along Chevron Drive on the Lekki–Ajah Expressway while “driving a Porsche vehicle”.
Gbenga explained that Emmanuel’s arrest subsequently led to the capture of the other two suspects — Olatunde and Okubakpere.
According to the spokesperson, the suspects admitted their roles during interrogation in what he described as a coordinated cybercrime operation.
“Tega Emmanuel confessed to coordinating cyber fraud, romance scams, and generating fraudulent accounts,” the statement reads.
“Jacob Olatunde confessed to handling financial transactions and managing collection of Illicit funds while Gift Okubakpere was responsible for managing crypto currency related scams carried out via Facebook, WhatsApp, Telegram, crypto currency platforms and online banking platforms.
“Further investigations led to the recovery of the following exhibits: three HP Laptops, one Apple MacBook Laptop, two MacBook Tablets, nine iPhones containing evidences of criminal activities, devices used for fraudulent transactions, six international passports, Lagos State vehicle number plates (LSR 235 JM, FKJ 558 JK), three dealer plate numbers, military camouflage, one mini printer,one toy gun (pistol) which the suspect claimed was used for skit production.
“Also recovered were 98 pieces of suspected counterfeit United States currency note, illicit drugs suspected to be Indian hemp and smoking paraphernalia.
“Investigations have been extended to relevant agencies to confirm the status of the suspected counterfeit currency and illicit drugs.”