Metro

Internet Fraud: Chinese Nationals Lose $222,729 In Digital Assets To FG

Published

2 months ago

July 21, 2025

Editor

Justice Alexander Owoeye of the Federal High Court sitting in Ikoyi, Lagos, has ordered the final forfeiture of digital assets worth $222,729.86 USDT recovered from Chinese nationals linked to cyber-terrorism and internet fraud.

The Economic and Financial Crimes Commission disclosed this in a statement on Monday, following the court order delivered on July 21, 2025.

The forfeited assets were recovered from members of a syndicate arrested during a December 10, 2024 raid in Lagos, codenamed the “Eagle Flush Operation.”

According to the EFCC, the suspects,including the Chinese nationals, were part of a group of 792 individuals arrested for alleged cryptocurrency investment scams and online romance fraud.

The commission stated, “Justice Owoeye gave the order, following an ex parte motion filed on July 18, 2025 by the EFCC, through its counsel, Zeenat Atiku.”

While moving the application on Monday, Atiku informed the court that it was backed by an affidavit deposed to by Muazu Abdulrahman, an EFCC investigating officer.

In the affidavit, Abdulrahman stated that the syndicate carried out its operations through a Nigerian-registered company known as Genting International Co. Limited.

“Over the course of its activities, this company’s Union Bank account 0225100403 received a staggering sum of over N2,268,839,161 (Two Billion, Two Hundred and Sixty-Eight Million, Eight Hundred Thirty-Nine Thousand, One Hundred Sixty-One Naira) from April 12, 2024, to December 23, 2024.

“An analysis of the company’s bank statement revealed that the primary inflows into the account originated from two cryptocurrency vendors: Chukwuemeka Okeke and Alhassan Aminu Garba.

“Furthermore, Okeke and Garba were invited for questioning and they willingly provided their statements under caution.

“They reported that they received a total USDT valued at $2,386,642 from the syndicates, resulting from USDT purchased through peer-to-peer trading.

“They also identified the wallet addresses utilized by the group for transferring funds (USDTs),” he said.

Atiku submitted that the funds were reasonably suspected to be proceeds of computer-related fraud and money laundering, and urged the court to order their forfeiture to the Federal Government.

In granting the request, Justice Owoeye ruled, “I have read the motion and attachments and found sufficient merit in the application.

“Consequently, the motion succeeds and is hereby granted.”
(PUNCH)

Metro

Gateman Arrested For Allegedly Defiling Four-year-old Pupil In Oyo

Published

12 hours ago

September 5, 2025

Editor

A 26-year-old gateman identified as Josiah Ayomide has been arrested for allegedly defiling a four-year-old pupil in one of the schools in Ibadan, Oyo State.

The suspect was paraded alongside other suspects arrested for offences ranging from theft, banditry, rape, and other crimes at the Oyo State Police Command, Eleyele, Ibadan, on Thursday.

In his briefing, the Police Public Relations Officer, CSP Adewale Osifeso, said the suspect was nabbed after the victim complained of severe vaginal pains to her parents at home.

Osifeso added that after a thorough investigation and probe, the suspect confessed to the crime.

The police spokesman said the victim later told her mother that her school gateman had unlawfully raped her while she was in the school.

According to the report, “The victim was taken to the Police Medical Clinic, Eleyele-Ibadan, for medical examination and treatment, and the medical report revealed that the hymen was not intact, with tenderness around the vulva and vagina and bruises.”

Osifeso said the suspect would be prosecuted upon completion of the investigation.

Metro

Panic As Fire Guts Fuel Station In Ikorodu

Published

14 hours ago

September 5, 2025

Editor

Photo: File Copy

There was pandemonium on Friday when fire gutted A1 Petroleum Filling Station, an independent oil dealer located on Isawo Road, off Agric Bus Stop in Ikorodu, Lagos.

As of 1 p.m., the extent of property destroyed and possible casualties had not been confirmed. The cause of the fire is still under investigation.

Men of the Lagos State Fire and Rescue Service, supported by other emergency responders, were at the scene battling to contain the inferno, which reportedly began from a diesel-laden truck within the premises.

Metro

DSS Charges Top Ansaru Leaders Over Terrorism, Kuje Prison Break Roles

Published

14 hours ago

September 5, 2025

Editor

The Department of State Services (DSS) has brought terrorism charges against two senior commanders of Ansaru, an Al-Qaeda-linked terror group, over their alleged role in violent attacks across Nigeria.

The suspects are Mahmud Usman, also known as Abu Bara’a/Abbas/Mukhtar, who is described as the Emir of Ansaru, and his deputy Mahmud al-Nigeri, also called Malam Mamuda. They were recently captured during security operations.

According to the DSS, the charges against them include leading a terrorist organisation, funding its activities, recruiting members, and planning violent operations nationwide.

Their arraignment at the Federal High Court in Abuja is expected soon.

Nuhu Ribadu, the national security adviser (NSA), said the two men were behind the July 2022 Kuje prison attack, where more than 600 inmates, including Boko Haram suspects, escaped.

Ribadu explained: “Abu Bara was the coordinator of terrorist sleeper cells across Nigeria and the mastermind of several high-profile kidnappings and armed robberies used to finance terrorism.”

On Mamuda, Ribadu revealed that he trained in Libya between 2013 and 2015 under foreign jihadists from Egypt, Tunisia, and Algeria, specialising in handling weapons and making explosive devices.

The NSA also linked the suspects to the 2013 abduction of French engineer Francis Collomp in Katsina, the 2019 kidnapping of Musa Uba, Magajin Garin Daura, and the kidnapping of the Emir of Wawa.

Ribadu described their arrest as “a turning point”, noting that the duo maintained strong networks in Mali, Niger, and Burkina Faso.