By Frank Momoh
Operatives of the Economic and Financial Crimes Commission (EFCC), at the week end, 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 23 suspect identities were given as: 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.
According to Mr. Wilson Uwujaren, he said the suspects who are 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 and dentity theft amongst others.
During interrogation, the suspects narrated how they were recruited into the ‘academy’ to be trained in cyber crimes. According to them, while on training, they all carryout various functions such as cooks, duty master, ICT manager, etc, in the regimented premises to ensure a smooth running of the academy, he said.
At the time of their arrest, the EFCC Spokesperson, said 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 were recovered from the suspects.
The owners of the ‘Academy’ are still at large, he said. He said at the conclusion of the ongoing Investigation, the culprits would be charged to court.