The Delta State Police Command on Wednesday said the operators of an Internet fraud academy, where over 100 teenagers were arrested by men of the Nigerian Army, lured the suspects with a promise to train them in Bitcoin and forex trading.
The command’s Public Relations Officer, Bright Edafe, in a video shared on his X page on Wednesday, narrated that the suspects had arrived at the academy only to discover that it was a “Hustling Kingdom.”
PUNCH Metro reports that the soldiers from the 3rd Battalion Nigerian Army Barracks stormed an estate in the Warri area of the state and arrested over 100 suspected internet fraudsters.
The school was reportedly engaged in training cybercriminals, and the suspects were handed over to the police for further investigation and prosecution.
Meanwhile, Edafe stressed that the arrest by the military came after one of the suspects contacted his family member via the laptop given to him by the academy operators.
The PPRO further narrated that upon informing his family about the trap he was caught in, the family contacted the military, leading to the arrest of 123 suspects, most of whom were teenagers.
According to Edafe, the suspects were lured into a trap with promises of learning BTC trading and forex, only to find themselves in Hustlers HK, a notorious cybercrime training network.
He narrated, “We are here at the Ekpan Police Station Effurun Divisional HQ, where we will be parading about 123 suspected Internet fraudsters who were engaged in Internet fraud.”
“Their modus operandi is that they engage their agents who go on social media to flaunt wealth, which most times isn’t even theirs, and convince unsuspecting boys aged 17, 18, 19, and 20 that they want to teach them forex and crypto business.”
“They lure some from Kaduna, Akwa Ibom, and Ibadan to that particular estate and beat the hell out of them, feeding them only when they feel like,” he said.
Edafe revealed that the suspects were deceived by agents flaunting fake wealth on social media, convincing them to join the fraudulent scheme.
He added that the agents would then lure them to the estate, where they were subjected to physical abuse and exploitation.
Efforts by our correspondent to ascertain whether the operators of the school had been arrested proved abortive, as the PPRO had yet to respond to calls and messages made to his line.
PUNCH Online reported on September 1 that operatives of the Economic and Financial Crimes Commission arrested 48 suspected internet fraudsters in Umudike, Abia State.
The arrest was carried out based on intelligence information gathered by the EFCC.
