Members of a five-man gang of kidnappers, including a lady, have given a gory detail of how they lure men through a popular online dating website known as Badoo to a lonely spot where they attack and rob them of their valuables while the unfortunate ones will be strangled.
The suspects, Micheal Eneji, his brother, Emmanuel Eneji, Chukwu Chibueze, Gift Princess, and Lekia Emmaden Isaac, were apprehended by the Rivers State police command days after the family of one of their latest victims, Shola Olaseinde reported the victim missing.
He was later found in a decomposing state in a bush, close to a deserted pipeline area at Eleme, Port Harcourt, Rivers State. Few metres away, was also the decomposed body of another victim, who was later identified as Mr. Progress Benin Disi, a staffer of Shell Oil servicing company whose family had also reported missing since March 7, 2014.
On their arrest, the state Commissioner of Police, Tunde Ogunsakin told Saturday Sun that the command acted on the complaint by the family of one of their victims, Shola Olaseinde who got missing on March 26, 2014.
"When his family waited for him and could not reach him, they lodged a complaint and I instructed the officer in charge of anti-kidnapping, CSP Akan to hunt for the missing father and husband.
"Through intelligence gathering, we were able to arrest the gang of four men and a lady. They led us to Ebubu, Eleme, Rivers State, at an abandoned shell pipeline borrow pit where the corpse of Shola was lying in a decomposed state. Few metres away was also the decomposed body of another victim, Mr. Progress Benin Disi, a staffer of Shell Oil servicing company."
Explaining the gang's modus operandi, CP Ogunsakin said: "Normally they pose as women on most of these dating sites. As soon as they lure their victim, they would arrange a meeting. The lady's duty is to meet with the men who are normally very rich. As soon as they get them, she will lure them to a secluded place and alert members of their gang. They will overpower the individual and tie the person up while they withdraw money from his account through ATM.
"I hope that Nigerians will learn a lesson from this and realise that in as much as great and useful information can be got on net, it is also an avenue for fraud."
At the police station, the leader of the gang, Michael Eneji, a 27-year-old footballer confessed to the crime and said that his gang didn't know that the late Shola would not be able to escape from the forest after dispossessing him of his valuables.
In his words: "When I couldn't afford to pay my school fees, I decided to go into love dating scam. I dwell mainly on Badoo chat that most Nigerian men visit regularly. I surf the net and select pictures of black models and impersonate them. As soon as they see this picture, some will send a message and I will reply. They will ask for my number and I will give them. I also have a Tecno phone that has a special voice prompt that allows a man to sound like a woman.
Once I establish a contact, I will go to the next step which is to convince them that I will satisfy their intimate urge.
"Pretending to be a big girl, I will tell them to meet me at a Conoil petrol station, before the trailer park along Eleme road while one of my boys, Chibueze will go there and meet them as my domestic servant and direct them to my house. To convince them to come, I will claim that I live in one of the estates alone and it will be safer to meet there so that they will not be caught.
"In their car, Chibueze will tell them to drive towards a deserted place where we will lay ambush. Dressed in police uniform, we will stop them and demand to know what they are doing in such a deserted place. We will overpower them and tie their hands and legs while we take their valuables, including their ATM cards.
"Two of us will go to the......continue readin and see pictures here-http://www.frabidel.com/2014/04/how-kidnappers-use-pretty-girls.html