The
Lagos State Police Command has arrested a 35-year-old, Michael Atanda, for
threatening to expose the nude pictures of four women he met on Facebook unless they paid money into his bank account.
It was learnt that Atanda
was arrested by operatives of the Rapid Response Squad on Thursday.
The
police said the suspect was initially arrested in 2015 for defrauding a woman
of N700,000; adding that he was thereafter charged to court.
It
was gathered that Atanda, a National Diploma holder in Computer Science from an
institution in Lagos, allegedly blackmailed his four new victims after he had
collected N121,000 from them.
The
police said he told the victims that if they did not pay, he would leak their
nude pictures on the social media.
In
his statement to the police, the suspect, who said he had been impersonating as
Segun Bayo on Facebook, added that his
strategy was to add several ladies on Facebook and after
two weeks, start chatting with them.
He
said, “The picture on my Facebook account
showed a young man, who was based in London. As part of my introduction to
ladies, I told them I was a construction engineer and that my parents lived in
Europe.
“After
some time, I would lure them into sexual conversations during which I persuaded
them to send their nude pictures to me. They usually sent the pictures.
“I
usually pretended that I was interested in a serious relationship with them,
and that very soon, I would be coming to Abuja on a business trip, during which
I would see them.
“I
also had some computer software that transformed my Nigerian telephone line
into an international line.
“As
soon as they had sent their nude pictures, I would come up with all manners of
stories and I would begin to blackmail them.”
Atanda
confessed that he made N121,000 from his latest victims.
He
said, “As soon as they sent their nude pictures, I blackmail them. I have
collected N121,000 from my latest victims.
“I
collected N10,000 from the first woman, Funmilola; from Motunrayo, I collected
N6,000, N5,000 from Joy and N100,000 from Lizzy.”
“It
is true that I was jailed last year after fraudulently collecting N700,000 from
a lady I met through a dating site. The case is still pending in court.”
The
police said Atanda had 210 friends on his Facebook page, and
over 195 were young ladies.
One
of the women, Lizzy, was said to have reported Atanda to the police, while the
other three victims were discovered during investigations.
They
reportedly told the police that they paid the suspect so that he would not leak
their nude pictures on the internet.
The
police said Atanda had also opened a bank account in one of the commercial
banks.
The
Lagos State Police Public Relations Officer, SP Dolapo Badmos, said the police
would carry out a thorough investigation into the case to aid prosecution.
“The
suspect has been transferred to the State Criminal Investigation and
Intelligence Department, Yaba, for further investigation
Source:The
Punch
Tags
Society