Mudiaga Affe , Calabar

THE Cross River State Police Command on Friday arrested three Internet fraudsters , also known as yahoo- boys, with charms which they used in defrauding and dispossessing their victims of money and other valuables.

This was just as another group of five yahoo- boys were also arrested on the streets of Calabar .

The Commissioner of Police in the state , Mr. Hafiz Inuwa , who disclosed this in Calabar during the parade of the suspects , gave the names of the yahoo boys that were arrested with charms as 22-year – old Chukwuemeka Ahunanya ; Francis Ugochukwu , 25 ; and Emmanuel Chukwuma, 25.

The CP said the three – man gang had confessed to belonging to a syndicate that was using charms to hypnotise potential victims .

Inuwa said , “ On February 23 , 2018 , at about 0940 hours, the following suspects were arrested in the Akpabuyo Local Government Area on a tip – off . They are Chukwuemeka Ahunanya , Francis Ugochukwu , and Emmanuel Chukwuma.

“ During interrogation , the suspects confessed to belonging to an Internet fraud group also known as yahoo boys. They used charms to defraud and dispossess unsuspecting members of the public of their hard – earned money and other valuables. Some charms were recovered from them during the search . ”

He said that investigation was ongoing to identify their victims , adding that the suspects would soon be charged to court.
Similarly, Inuwa disclosed that the command also on March 8 , 2018 arrested another set of Internet fraudsters .

“ We got a tip – off that five young men who specialise in Internet fraud were sighted along Itu Street , off Mary Slessor Avenue, in Calabar , ostensibly to commit a crime .

“ The following five suspects were arrested by men of the Special Anti – Robbery Squad : Emmanuel Anthony , 33; Victor Eyo, 23; Joshua Archibong , 22 ; Michael Oyo , 23 ; and Edet Emmanuel , 20 , ” he said .

Inuwa disclosed that items recovered from the suspects were a pair of scissors , bottles of CSP Codeine, some mobile phones , ATM cards, play station and ML 350 Mercedes Benz SUV.

When interrogated by Southern City News, one of the suspects who specialised in using charms, Ahunanya , said the gang introduced the use of charms to defraud their victims two weeks ago .

Ahunanya , who claimed to be a graduate of the Maritime Academy in Akwa Ibom State , said , “ We just introduced the use of charms into our business . Though we have not perfected it , we think it will work . We have seen others using it . We started it like two weeks ago. We get information that it works for others using it . ”

Another suspect , Chukwuma, said , “ We only started using the charms like two weeks ago and we have not seen its potency . We cannot tell if it will work because it has not worked for us . I am new in the yahoo business . ”

The Commissioner of Police said the suspects would be charged to court as soon as investigation was concluded .

Punchng