Operatives of the Benue State Police Command have uncovered an Internet fraud training centre, known as ‘yahoo yahoo’, in Makurdi, the Benue state capital.
The special operation aimed at cracking down on criminal gangs in the state also led to the arrest of 31 suspected members of various criminal gangs operating in the state.
Parading the suspects on Tuesday at the Command Headquarters in Makurdi, the State Police Commissioner, Mr. Steve Yabanet, informed that the suspects were arrested for various crimes including Internet fraud, robbery, cultism, and kidnapping.
Mr. Yabanet explained that the yahoo yahoo training centre was uncovered after information was received about a fraud academy operating in Makurdi, at Jerome Hwande Street, Akpa-Quarters area of Makurdi.
He said, “Police detectives were assigned to investigate the case, and on May 14, 2024, at about 6am, the following suspects were arrested at the house: 23-year-old Terpase Denmodi and 24-year-old Avalumun Ayangekaa.”
He said items recovered from the suspects included seven HP laptops, one Apple notebook, one Canon printer, 15 notes of Ghana cedis, two international passports, assorted clothes, among other items.
According to him, “The suspects confessed to the crime, stating that most of their victims are foreigners and they have students; the students are usually trained in the fraud business at the house. Trainees share proceeds of fraud with them as they go out to practice.”
Also paraded were another eight suspected internet fraudsters arrested in a Makurdi hotel, as well as three members of a kidnap gang operating in Makurdi.
The Police Commissioner disclosed that the operation led to the busting of a kidnap gang operating along the Makurdi-Naka road on May 6, 2024.
He stated that the gang had blocked the failed highway and robbed some commercial motorbike operators of their bikes. “They also kidnapped one victim and collected N2 million from the family before the victim was released.
“In the course of the kidnap, one victim raised an alarm that led to the arrest of one suspect, 21-year-old Mohammed Ibrahim, who could not meet up with his other colleagues as they were being chased. The suspect confessed to the crime, stating that he and his gang members usually kidnap people along Naka road and collect ransom.”
The Police Commissioner, who listed some of the items recovered from the 31 suspects, including laptops, motorbikes, an AK47 rifle, a large number of ATM cards, POS machines, a locally fabricated gun, phones, and other dangerous weapons, assured that the crackdown was continuing while investigations into the network of fraudsters and criminal gangs operating in the state were ongoing. He appealed to the public to provide necessary information to aid their fight against crime and criminality in the state.
