Amby Uneze in Owerri
The Economic and Financial Crimes Commission (EFCC) yesterday stormed Owerri, the Imo state capital and arrested at least 20 suspects of cyber crime.
The operatives of the anti-graft commission arrested the suspects about six days after some boys suspected to be fraudsters were apprehended in Owerri.
Multiple sources confirmed the EFCC operation to THISDAY yesterday, describing how the operatives stormed Aladinma extension, Owerri and arrested the suspects of cyber crime.
One of the sources said that the EFCC operatives struck while their targets were still asleep. He stated that apart from picking the suspects, cars, expensive phones and laptops were recovered by the anti-graft agents.
He said that the area was known “to be where cyber crime suspects live. No fewer than 20 suspects were arrested by the EFCC operatives while others escaped through windows of their rooms.
“EFCC operatives stormed Aladinma extension area of Owerri and arrested Yahoo Yahoo boys. They arrested no fewer than 20 suspects. They also recovered cars, phones and laptops from their targets.
“Others, who were smart among them, escaped through the widows. It was a funny scenario this morning. This is the second time these people are storming Owerri in less than one week to arrest Yahoo boys,” the source said.
Another source at the Imo State Police Command confirmed the arrest of 20 suspects, disclosing that the EFCC operatives arrived the state on Thursday.
The source disclosed that the EFCC operatives reported their arrival at the state’s police command headquarters in Owerri before proceeding to carry out their operation.
On August 27, the EFCC arrested 33 suspected online fraudsters in Owerri in continuation of its clampdown on internet scammers across the country,
In a statement by its spokesperson, Wilson Uwujaren, the anti-graft agency explained that the suspects were arrested in their hideout by EFCC operatives from the Abuja and Enugu zonal offices.
Laptop computers, mobile phones, two Lexus SUV and a Toyota salon car, were among the items recovered from the suspects.
The arrest comes barely a day after the EFCC announced the arrest of a cyber crimes syndicate which specialises in business email compromise in Benin City, the Edo State capital.
They were said to have confessed to searching for victims’ email addresses, creating a phishing link and compromising the process in order to defraud them.
