Operatives of the Economic and Financial Crimes Commission EFCC, in the early hours of Thursday November 28, 2019, arrested 23 Internet fraud suspects at a building which is being used as training outpost for potential cyber criminals on Essien Essien Street, Ikot Ibiok village, Eket Local Government Area, Akwa Ibom State.The suspects are:Uzoma Chibuike; Bob Okwondu; Stanhope Wise; Kingsley Maxwell; Otuokpani Chukwuma; Onyedikachi Ogwuegbu; Ocheowoni Odey Ogbudu; Franklin Ukoh; Emmanuel Odinkaru and Okpani Daniel Maduabuchi. Others are Onyekachi F. N. Akwukwaegbu ; Obinna Kalu; Emmanuel Chima; Mbutidem Godwin Daniel; Darlington Rowland Victor; Chibuike Ogu; Elijah Samuel; Chibuozo Prince; Ogbonna Kelvin; Michael Rufus; Peter Jerry and Nwakwuoke Kingsley.The suspects between the ages of 19 and 35 years confessed that they were undergoing training in various aspects of cyber criminality such as; Love Scam, Online Trading Scam, Identity theft, etc.During questioning, the suspects narrated how they were recruited into the ‘Academy’ to be trained in cyber crimes.
According to them, while on training, they all carried out various functions such as Cooks, Duty master, ICT manager, etc, in the regimented premises to ensure a smooth running of the Academy.At the time of their arrest, the following items were recovered from the suspects: 25 HP laptops, 5 Dell laptops, 1Lenovo laptop, 1 Toshiba laptop, 1 Asus laptop, 1 Acer laptop and accessories. Also recovered from them are; 13 Android phones of different models, 6 small phones, 1 MTN 4G Wi-Fi, 2 universal modems and 1 First Bank of Nigeria ATM card.The owners of the ‘Academy’ are still at large.EFCC said at the conclusion of the ongoing investigation, the culprits would be charged to court.
