Operators of Delta Yahoo academy facing trial – Police

The Delta State Police Command says some suspected operators of an Internet fraud academy, known as Hustlers Kingdom, in the Warri area of the state where about 123 suspects were arrested, are facing trial.

The Delta Police Public Relations Officer, Bright Edafe, disclosed this in an exclusive telephone conversation with PUNCH Metro on Monday.

PUNCH Metro had reported in September that soldiers from the 3rd Battalion Nigerian Army Barracks stormed an estate in the Warri area of the state and raided the HK, which was reportedly engaged in training cybercriminals, arresting 123 suspects who were handed over to the police for further investigation and prosecution.

Edafe had, in a post on his X page last Wednesday, narrated how the suspects were arrested.

He disclosed that 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 the suspects, most of whom were teenagers.

He had also noted that the suspects were lured into a trap with promises of learning BTC trading and Forex, only to find themselves in Hustlers Kingdom, a notorious cybercrime training network.

“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 the business of 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 Oyo to that particular estate and beat them up, feeding them only when they feel like it,” he had said.

In a follow-up conversation on Monday, the Delta police spokesperson informed our correspondent that some of the operators had been arrested and were currently facing trial.

“Those arrested have been charged to court,” Edafe said in a terse WhatsApp message.

Meanwhile, one of the students arrested in the academy, Gbolahan Olaide, has shared the experience of how he was allegedly held captive for nine months in the academy.

Olaide, in a post on Monday by Edafe, explained that he was lured to Warri by a friend with a promise to provide financial assistance for his trip to Cairo, Egypt after he struggled to raise N150,000.

“I needed money to complete my travel plans, so a friend invited me to Warri to help. But when I arrived, things took a dark turn,” Olaide said.

According to him, a vehicle picked him up at the park, but he was taken to a different location and locked in a house with other victims.

“They told me I couldn’t go back, and they forced me to learn internet fraud. They even beat me when I said I wanted to return home,” he said, adding that he was beaten until he lost control of his bodily functions and began spitting blood.

He stressed that despite the brutality, he was coerced into participating in fraudulent activities targeting unsuspecting victims on social media.

“The process involved hacking Facebook accounts by using phone numbers as passwords and deceiving foreigners into helping us financially by pretending to be in a relationship with them,” Olaide said.

The PPRO, however, said that the authorities in Warri were investigating the case, and Gbolahan, alongside others held in similar conditions, would be charged in court.