By Eben Enasco
Edo State Police Command on Friday paraded a 25-year-old fake Social media herbalist who specializes in luring unsuspected members of society into believing that he could get them rich with the intention of exploiting the victims.
The Suspect, Identified as Frank John, was said to have been operating a Facebook account, where he allegedly reached out to intending clients with the clear intent of exploiting vulnerable Nigerians.
Briefing Journalists in Benin City, the Edo State Command spokesman, Superintendent Chidi Nwabuzor said the suspect was intercepted and arrested at a forest in Igarra, Akoko Edo Local Government Area of the state.
The police image maker disclosed that the suspect had attacked the victims whom he managed to lure from Port Harcourt, and Yenagoa, Bayelsa and collected their Automated Teller Machine Cards, ATMs, with which he later gained access to the victim’s bank account.
According to SP Nwabuzor: “On March 5 and 8, 2023, two Victims, Sunday John, and shitu Hazim arrived at Igarra.”
“They were allegedly lured by a suspect John Frank a 25-year-old face book acclaimed herbalist. Three men working for the suspect rode on a motorcycle, arrived, and took them to the forest, where they were attacked with sticks and cutlasses, sustaining varying degrees of injuries.”
The suspect, Frank John, he said however, confessed to the crime, adding that, “he requested the victim to send 35,000 Naira to buy either a goat or ram to enable him to perform the rituals for making wealth.”
“John said after telling the Victim not to come from Port Harcourt to Igarra, Edo State during their conversation on wassap, the victim, Christian Sunday, insisted that he would like to visit the place where his new magic practitioners wanted to get him the needed wealth.”
Following his desire to increase the amount of wealth available to him, the victim, Christian Sunday said he transferred through an account made available by the suspect the sum of 40,000 naira to him to prepare the wealth enhancer magic, as the first essential.
Christian told Alltimepost.com that after making the money transfer, he waited for weeks and nothing seems to have happened, he, then, embarked on the voyage to Igarra to eliminate whatever negative energy may be blocking him from getting what he needed.
Sunday who narrated his ordeal, regretted his actions while admonishing those who are planning to venture into such deals to desist
In a similar trend, the State Police Command also paraded four suspected Internet criminals who were said to have defrauded a victim of six hundred thousand naira around Auchi near the City center.
The suspect, Godwin Uchen, a 19-year-old secondary school graduate and fashion designer trainee, admitted to making attempts to defraud another woman who narrowly escaped their fraudulent onslaught before succeeding in defrauding the second woman of the said amount.
He explained that his actions were motivated by the exorbitant lifestyle of his boyhood friend, (name withheld) who would continue to spend money lavishly without limit.
