Police rescue 9 foreign nationals, arrest 2 in Ogun

The Ogun State Police Command yesterday disclosed that it rescued nine foreign nationals and arrested two suspects linked to an alleged transnational fraud syndicate. The suspects, Stephen Kwame and Abubakar Sulaimon, were apprehended at their hideout in the Owode Egba area of the state. The police spokesperson, DSP Oluseyi Babaseyi, said in a statement that […]

The Ogun State Police Command yesterday disclosed that it rescued nine foreign nationals and arrested two suspects linked to an alleged transnational fraud syndicate.

The suspects, Stephen Kwame and Abubakar Sulaimon, were apprehended at their hideout in the Owode Egba area of the state.

The police spokesperson, DSP Oluseyi Babaseyi, said in a statement that the command received actionable intelligence via INTERPOL and subsequently stormed the identified hideout, where a Ghanaian national was being unlawfully held.

According to him, the operation led to the successful rescue of the victim, unharmed, alongside eight others held under similar circumstances.

“Preliminary investigations reveal that the suspects are members of an organised criminal syndicate that lures foreign nationals, particularly from Ghana, to Nigeria under the false promise of facilitating their travel to Europe.

“Upon arrival, the victims are deceived, confined, and their mobile phones used to contact relatives and associates to demand money under false pretences. The principal victim, Maclaud Owusu ‘M’, was defrauded of thirty-one thousand Ghana cedis (N31,000) before police intervention,” he said.

He added that the suspects were arrested at the scene, while the victims have been secured and provided with necessary assistance.

“The principal victim has since been reunited with his family, while efforts are ongoing to reunite the other rescued victims with their respective families.

“Investigation is ongoing to apprehend other accomplices linked to the syndicate,” Babaseyi said.