By Chiemelie Ezeobi
Operatives of the Rapid Response Squad (RRS) have arrested 19-year-old Olufowoke Oladunjoye Emmanuel, suspected to be the brain behind the attempt to blackmail a popular Yoruba musician, Queen Salawa Abeni, with some nude photographs.
The National Diploma holder of Yaba College of Technology and resident of Ogun State, was picked up by the Decoy Team of RRS after three days of monitoring him.
The Commissioner of Police, Lagos State Command, Mr. Hakeem Odumosu, had directed the RRS Commander, DCP Olatunji Disu, to fish out the suspect after Abeni made a complaint.
After technical diagnosis of the complaint, the Decoy Team narrowed down on the suspect few days later.
The suspect in his statement to the police confessed to have been the mastermind of the threat to publish some nude pictures of the musician, popularly known as Waka Queen, in exchange for money, adding that he was alone in the scheme.
The suspect, a 2017/2018 Electrical Engineering student of Yabatech, disclosed that he saw the nude pictures in a memory card which he picked up on the floor in Yabatech sometime in November 2019.
He added that after downloading the nude photographs of Salawa Abeni on his phone, he picked up her mobile number from her Instagram page.
He said: “On April 1, 2020, I chatted her up and also called her after sending few of the photos to her online.
“My intention was to negotiate with her for few bucks and for me to destroy the photographs.
“I thought everything was going on fine until the following day when I heard the news of the blackmail over the radio. I was with my mother. She was even cursing the blackmailer unknown to her that I was the brain behind it.
“I immediately sneaked out, destroyed the memory card and threw my mobile phone and SIM card into nearby wetland in Magboro. Since then, I never mentioned it to anyone or called Madam Salawa Abeni about it again.”
Commenting on the arrest, CP Odumosu said no individual would be allowed to commit a crime in Lagos from any state or escape to other states in Nigeria to evade arrest.
He advised guardians to monitor their wards, emphasising that the internet is a fertile ground for opportunities.
