The Nigeria Security and Civil Defence Corps (NSCDC), Federal Capital Territory (FCT) Command has interviewed the suspected internet fraudster, Joseph Efe, who tied up a lady at Top View hotel, Wuse, Zone 5, Abuja.
Parading the suspect on Friday, September 20, 2024, the FCT Commandant, Olusola Odumosu said Efe specialises in luring ladies on dating sites called 'coded runs' with the intent to robbing them of their phones and making withdrawal from his victims' bank accounts.
“The 30-year-old suspect, Joseph Efe, who is of Edo and Ondo origin, was arrested after coming out of the hotel premises allegedly to meet an accomplice, leaving his victim tied up in the hotel room,” Odumosu stated.
"The eagle eyed men of the NSCDC FCT Command who were at their sentry post, upon noticing Joseph's suspicious movement stopped him but instead of stopping, the suspect took to his heels after sighting our gallant officers who chased him, caught him and was led back to his hotel room, where the naked girl was found tied hands and legs with semi transparent adhesive tape (Cellotape).
"The victim, Olivia Ijeoma Chukwuemeka, who hails from Abia State was immediately rescued from the situation where she has been stripped naked, bound, hands, feet and mouth.
Olusola Odumosu said the suspect confessed to being a yahoo boy and that he has not been making money from the act so he decided to hunt for young girls on a dating site called 'coded runs' and that he operates between Port Harcourt, Lagos, Benin and Abuja.
Preliminary investigation reveals that the suspect, Mr Efe is a serial fraudster (yahoo) and a thief, who specialises in luring ladies on dating sites into hotel rooms with the intent to rob them of their phones and make withdrawals from his victims bank account.
Investigation also reveals that the suspect arrived at Abuja from Lagos on the 17th September, 2024 and lodged into FAB by Top Rank Hotel adjacent to the old Federal Secretariat, Area1.
His first victim on arrival in Abuja was another lady he invited to his hotel room but could not succeed in his evil act because the lady was able to put up some resistance.
The noise attracted hotel staff at the said hotel, who came into his room. He succeeded in escaping from the scene due to poor handling of the situation by the hotel security.
Upon his escape from FAB Hotel, he then proceeded to Top View Hotel where he checked in at about 2:30am on Wednesday, 18th September 2024.
He invited his latest victim who arrived at about 9am. He threatened her, putting fear in her and holding her by the throat, the frightened lady succumbed to her abductor, she was then stripped and bound.
On checking the victim’s phone he discovered the lady had no money in her bank account, he then took the victim’s android phone and left the hotel room.
It was in the process of escaping from the hotel premises that his movement became suspicious, but in the process of trying to stop him, he took to his heels, he was chased and caught by NSCDC Operatives.
While addressing journalists, Dr. Odumosu said:
"let it be made abundantly clear that the video in circulation on this incident was not shot by the operatives of the NSCDC, we only became aware of its existence as it went viral on social media.
"Furthermore, as a Corps, we are duty bound and empowered to do due diligence before taking necessary steps towards prosecuting or handing over a suspect as the case may be to any relevant sister agency".
After preliminary investigation, the suspect and the victim will be handed over to the relevant agency for any further necessary action.”
The FCT Commandant also warned all hotel owners to be more vigilant, and that they should do more to protect their guests and hotel facilities as well as ensuring their premises are not used as a place to perpetuate crime.
The Commandant who described the way the victim was tied by her abductor as inhuman cautioned all young ladies involved in 'hook up' to desist from such acts that will endanger their live.
Israeli strikes on Monday killed more than 270 Lebanese in the deadliest barrage since the 2006 Israel-Hezbollah war as the Israeli military warned residents in southern and eastern Lebanon to evacuate their homes ahead of a widening air campaign against Hezbollah.
Thousands of Lebanese fled the south, and the main highway out of the southern port city of Sidon was jammed with cars heading toward Beirut in the biggest exodus since the 2006 fighting. More than 1,000 other people were wounded in the strikes — a staggering one-day toll for a country still reeling from a deadly attack on communication devices last week.
The death toll surpassed that of Beirut’s devastating port explosion in 2020, when hundreds of tons of ammonium nitrate stored in a warehouse detonated, killing at least 218 people and wounding more than 6,000.
In a recorded message to Lebanese civilians, Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu urged them to heed Israeli calls to evacuate, saying “take this warning seriously.”
The Israeli military said it has carried out a “targeted strike” in the Lebanese capital, claiming to have hit near key Hezbollah facilities in Dahiyeh.
“The [Israeli military] conducted a targeted strike in Beirut. At this moment, there are no changes in the Home Front Command defensive guidelines,” it said, providing no further details.
The target was Hezbollah’s operations commander Ibrahim Aqil, who serves on the group’s top military body, two security sources in Lebanon and Israeli Army Radio said Al Jazeera’s Zeina Khodr, reporting from Beirut, said Dahiyeh is considered a Hezbollah stronghold.
“This is a major escalation. We are getting reports this could be a targeted assassination,” she said.
“It is not the first time that Beirut’s southern suburb is targeted, but images emerging from the scene show a building almost totally destroyed, so it is likely there will be civilian casualties.”
Zein Basravi, reporting from Amman because Al Jazeera is banned in Israel by the government, said Israeli media have been reporting that a very senior official of Hezbollah was the target of this attack.
“The Israeli army has put out warnings to the Israeli people, saying everything is on the table and to be prepared,” he said.
“There are now renewed calls for people to stay near bomb shelters.”
Hezbollah fires dozens of rockets
Earlier on Friday, Hezbollah pounded northern Israel with about 170 rockets since the morning, a day after the group’s leader Hassan Nasrallah promised to retaliate against Israel for a mass bombing attack, according to the updates from the Israeli military.
Approximately 150 rockets were fired before Israel’s attack on Beirut while some 20 were launched following the strike.
The Iran-backed group confirmed the attacks without giving numbers.
Israel’s military said the rockets came in multiple waves on Friday afternoon, targeting sites along the ravaged border with Lebanon.
Tensions between Israel and Hezbollah have soared following two days of sabotage attacks blamed on Israel that set off explosives in thousands of communications devices, killing at least 37 people and injuring nearly 3,000 people, including civilians.
But Hezbollah said the rockets were in retaliation for Israeli attacks on villages and homes in southern Lebanon.
Smoke billows from the site of an Israeli air strike on Lebanon’s southern village of Kfar Kila, on September 20 [Rabih Daher/AFP] The Israeli military claimed the barrage of rockets caused no injuries and that rescue services were working to put out fires sparked by falling debris.
It listed the targeted areas as the occupied Golan Heights, the Upper Galilee region and the town of Safed.
Videos from northern Israel posted online showed rockets being intercepted by Israel’s Iron Dome system, as sirens were heard in the background.
The military said its air defences took down some of the rockets, while others fell in open areas.
The incoming fire came after the Israeli military said it struck dozens of rocket launchers overnight that were ready for use against Israel.
For nearly a year, Hezbollah has engaged in near-daily exchanges of fire with Israeli forces along the Lebanon-Israel border in support of Hamas. Tens of thousands of people on both sides of the border have also been forced to flee their homes due to the fighting.
Rami Khoury, a professor at the American University of Beirut told Al Jazeera that “Israel is on “a rampage,” emboldened by the US’s unwavering support to “do anything they want”.H
He said an escalation in the conflict between Israel and Hezbollah appears inevitable, but added that he does not believe an all-out regional war to be imminent.
Khoury reminded that Israel has long sought to defeat Hezbollah, which is better equipped than Hamas and has closer ties to Iran
“The problem is it has tried this many times without success,” Khoury added.
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