Emeka Ibemere, reports the dangers of hooking to a woman/ man on the numerous online
dating sites that dots the social media.
Whether it’s
‘Badoo, whatsup, Facebook, OkCupid, e-Harmony, Lavalife, Match.com, Adam4Adam, SinglesNet.com,
and DateHookup dating Sites’, they are all death traps in Nigeria.
But what is
wrong with them?
The original purpose and concept have been
defeated and it’s now a tool in the hands of crooks and goons to kill and
defraud the ‘mates’ they found online.
Recent
happenings in Nigeria are a sour taste in the minds of those who surf the net
in search of soul-mates and partners in the new match-making ventures as an
avenue to find husband, wife and business partners.
The
experience of those who survived the ugly trend is more chilling but that of
those who died in the process depicts man‘s inhumanity to man.
Available
reports indicate that all those who pose on these dating on-line sites are not
friends or mates. Stories making the rounds in the recent time, suggests that
those who pose on these Sites and different chartrooms are devourers and devils
parading as saints.
Since the
emergence of ‘Match-making’ via online sites and Newspaper columns and other social
media, a lot has allegedly passed through the waters.
The common
these days are the ones who pose as women but are in actual fact men. They post
pictures of beautiful black complexioned ladies or celebrities from other
climes, as if they were Nigerian ladies in bid to lure men into their traps.
The goons have many other plots to lure would-be-victims into their cage before
killing them and dashing away with their money and valuable properties.
Victims of
these sinister plots are those who are always interested in buying parcels of
land, cars, buildings or following strange agents to unknown places to check
out apartments or cars for sale. A recent report on Facebook has revealed
numerous dangers of those who have the guts to try and died in the ‘game.’
With
somewhat fading of kidnapping crimes, investigation has revealed that the goons
appeared to have adopted a new gambit to beat the security apparatus. This new syndicate or gang of criminals are
said to be using a “‘honey trap’ to lure unsuspecting people to an untimely and
gruesome death.
“We believe
based on the little facts we have that they are parading an item for sale for
an unbelievable bargain price”, as one Obiageli Ohiag, recently wrote in letter she sent to friends
to be aware of the dangers of an online wives, husbands and soul mates.
The alleged
criminals are said to be using heavy duty equipment or Real Estate property,
car/vehicle and a piece of land to lure their victims to their ‘slaughter slab’
before carrying out their heinous crime.
The report
also stated that the criminals tends to offer their ‘goods’ to all time low market
price; which would interest the would- be- victims.
After price negotiations
which are conducted on phone, they would arrange to meet with their customer
for inspection only to accost the person, beat and torture him/her until the
person divulges the pin code to his/her ATM card(s) which they would have
already taken. It was also gathered that the goons equally tie their victims in
a forest and proceed to go for the confirmation of the code they have forced
the victim to divulge. And on discovering that the code is correct by using it
in any nearby ATM machine, they start to do withdrawals with the victim’s ATM,
until the account is emptied. It was also reported that after which they kill
the person and set-up another deal for the next weekend while they continue
withdrawing from their victims account(s).
However, the
‘conscience’ ones sometimes return to the forest to untie their victims to
escape. But many victims died while in the forest trying to untie themselves.
This may sound like a crime movie
Nollywood script, but it’s far from it. It happened to a manager in Shell Development
Petroleum Company (SDPC) Nigeria and a businessman who were allegedly killed in
Rivers State by fraudsters impersonating as women on a dating site.
The corpses
of the victims and one other unidentified person were recovered in a bush by
the police in the state. The late Shell manager, Mr. Progress Benin Disi, went
missing on March 7, while Shola Olaseinde, the businessman got missing on March
26.
According to
the Police who were initially working on kidnap theory until investigation led
them to the discovery of a syndicate said to specialise in luring people,
especially rich men through dating sites with a view to ripping them off.
The police
reportedly opened phone calls with the gang and were able to arrest five of
them including a pregnant woman. The goons used the pregnant woman as a decoy to
engage their victims in romantic tones on phone. The leader of the group allegedly
identified as, Micheal Eneji, a 27 year- old footballer said they were unaware
of Olaseinde’s death until their arrest.
“We will
take their ATM cards and go to the bank with the pin number they gave us and
begin to withdraw N100, 000 every day until the account is blocked”, he stated.
“We did not know that Olaseinde and Disi were unable to untie themselves like
others before them and escape”.
According to
the gang leader, his involvements in crime were as a result of poverty. “When I
couldn’t afford to pay my school fees, I decided to go into love dating scam. I
dwell mainly on Badoo that many Nigerian men visit regularly”, he added. “I
surf the net and select pictures of black models and impersonate them by using
them as my own so that the men will think they are dealing with a woman. As
soon as they see the picture, some send a message to me and I will respond. “They
will ask for my number and I will give them. I have a Techno phone that has a
special voice prompt that allows a man to sound like a woman”. The suspect
continued, “Once I establish contact, I will go to the next step which is to
convince them that I will satisfy their sexual urge. Pretending to be a big
girl, I will tell them to meet me at a petrol station on 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 by their wives or girlfriends. While in their cars, Chibueze will
tell them to drive towards a deserted place where we would lay ambush for them,
dressed in police uniforms. We will stop them and demand to know what they are
doing in such a deserted place. “We will over power them and tie their hands
and legs while we take their valuables including their ATM card. “Two of us
will go the bank and withdraw money from their account through their ATM. If
there no much money in the account, we will release loosen the rope and
disappear this will enable the person to untie himself and go home.” Eneji
confessed that the gang had defrauded a lot of men before they were arrested.
He said that
the gang kept Olaseinde and Disi for several days to enable them (gang) exhaust
their ‘huge’ accounts. On how Olaseinde was killed, he said:
“I told him
to come around 7pm and he told me that it was the perfect time to hang out. At
about that time, he drove to the spot with his driver and Chibueze who was on
ground joined him. He directed them to the spot and we took over the car, tied
him and his driver up. He did not have much cash with unlike the others. When
we got to the bank, I realized that he had about N4.5million naira in his
account. Blindfolded, we took him further into the bush and decided to keep
there for some days to enable us empty that account. A few days later we were
arrested. I never knew that he did not escape”.
“The second
victim, Mr Disi was not my contract. It was Elijah the leader of another group
that contracted me to help execute the job. I became interested when he told me
that the ‘maga’ (late Disi) worked in Shell Petroleum. “All I did was to lure
him to visit by promising him good sex. I do not know if they killed him
because of the huge amount that was found in his account. The truth is that we
do not kill, but rob them of their valuables. We will sell the car, withdraw as
much as we can from their accounts and disappear. We know that such crime might
not be reported because the man will not tell his family or the police why he
was robbed to protect his image”, he said.
“It is
unfortunate that they died; they were still breathing when we left them there.
The only difference is that we did not loosen the rope so that they could
easily escape. On the role of the lady in their midst”, Eneji said: “She is my
fiancée and I normally use her to further convince our target to assume that we
are real. If the target insists that I should come and see him, I will send my
girl to go and meet him. She would be the one that will lure them to the spot
where we can take over.” He goes by the names Cindy and Empress on Badoo. “Once
you search for beautiful models on Goggle search, you will have so many
options. If you want so many toasters, select the ones that expose their breast.
I am terribly sorry that these men died in the process. We found out that it is
easier to collect money in exchange for sex. I dropped out of school because my
rich relatives refused to help my mother to train us. I can only get money from
them if I send a woman to go and seduce them. I am terribly sorry.” A member of
the gang, Lekia Emmaden Isaac, said his own duty was to tie their victims. He
said: “We have done that severally and when we return, we found that they have
escaped. “I did not kill Olaseinde. All I did was to tie him up very well so
that he would not escape immediately. I was shocked when I heard that he was
found dead. It is possible that a snake attacked him since he was kept in a
deserted area.” Chibueze, a 17 year-old, who acted as domestic servant said his
duty was just to take the victim to a spot where they would be attacked by the
other members of the gang. “I did not participate in the main robbery; all I
did was to take the suspect to the point where he would be robbed.” Gift Princess,
the expectant mother said: “Olaseinde called, requesting that I should direct
him. I then told him that my domestic servant would wait for him at the agreed
spot. “He later called back complaining that he was not comfortable with the
route that they passed through. Unfortunately, he was already at the spot and
my fiancé, Eneji and others took over from there. “I was only helping my
husband to raise enough money to pay for my bride price.”
The Rivers State
Commissioner of Police, Tunde Ogunshakin, said operatives acted based on a
report by the family of one of their victims, Olaseinde that he had been
kidnapped.
“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 of two. Through Intelligence gathering, we were able to arrest
the gang. They led us to Ebubu, Eleme, in Rivers state at an abandoned Shell
pipeline borrowed pit where the corpse of Shola was lying decomposed”.
CP Ogunsakin
said the suspects posed as women in most of these love dating sites. As soon as
they lured 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 would
come and tie the person and then go ahead to withdraw money from his account
through ATM”.
Adeola
Agoro, a journalist commenting on the incident, described the unfortunate case
as ‘so sad’. “I read similar stories in the newspapers,
last week. They use sex as bait through some dating sites and by the time you
contact them, it's always too late. They take your ATM card, get your pin and
torture you to death. Let's deal with only those we know. God help us”.
But a social worker and Chairman of the EDUVentures, Paschal
Okon Bassey blamed those who toast women on internet and said its lack of
morality on their own part. According to him, even those who engage in business
without knowing or seeing their business partners face to face are making a
hell of life mistake.
Celestine Nwosu, Chairman of the Nigerian Red cross,
Oshodi/Isolo Lagos State, also discouraged serious persons going into Facebook,
or ‘whatever they call it’ stating that its signs of an end. According to him,
the originators of the social media designed it for the progress of man but
devil intended persons have turned it to another thing adding that the only way
not to be a victim was not to join any dating sites.
