Wale Elegbede
A four-man student-cartel which specialises in cyber stalking female undergraduates after taking possession of their nudes pictures have been uncovered by the Akin Fadeyi Foundation, FLAG’IT App and Afe Babalola University, Ado Ekiti (ABUAD).
The alleged leader of the ring, David Ofoeyeno, 19, a 300-Level student of Media and Communications at the ABUAD, has, however, been arraigned on Monday at a Federal High Court sitting in Ekiti State on a six-count charge. The trial judge has adjourned the case to Dec 10.
Disclosing the workings of the syndicate to journalists in a virtual press briefing held yesterday, founder and Executive Director of the foundation, Mr Akin Fadeyi, said the organisation was notified of the blackmail and extortion in May, 2020, through its ‘Flag It App’ created for members of the public to report corrupt, decadent and Gender Based violence cases to the Foundation
Fadeyi, who bemoaned the state of decadence in the country’s higher institutions, said the Foundation was able to unmask the students behind the cyber stalking, blackmail and extortion through the assistance of the Authorities of ABUAD, the Nigerian Police and the wife of the governor of Ekiti State, Erelu Bisi Fayemi.
He further stated: “There must be no sacred cows. I’m not proud to announce that some of our younger ones have turned Nigerian universities to centre of macabre and theatre of predators. In May, this year, we started receiving reports on the ‘FlagIt App’ that some students of a Nigerian university have been luring innocent girls to become their girlfriends, lure them to send their nude pictures on the pretext of enrolling them for an international beauty pageant.
“One of these victims almost committed suicide because as these boys kept pressuring and threatening her that they upload her nude pictures on social media, she couldn’t approach her parents, she was afraid. She couldn’t talk to anyone; she was on the verge of suicide when Dr. Betty Kayode, advised her to take advantage of ‘FLAG’IT App’ where she eventually reported the issue.”
The other three students alleged to be part of the ring include, Darlington Emojeya, a 300-Level Engineering student, Omokolade Israel Aiyedogbon, a recent graduate of the university, who is yet to be cleared and Oyedele Adeolu Akinsola, also a 300-Level student of Political Science.
Affirming the position of the institution and its founder, Aare Afe Babalola, to get rid of such indecent acts in society, the varsity’s Dean of Students Affairs, Babatunde Wahab, disclosed that Ofoeyeno was caught in possession of cloned foreign phone numbers being used to perpetuate the acts.
Wahab noted: “They use fake profile pictures of big ladies to attract these innocent girls to come and participate in beauty pageants in the United Kingdom and United States. The boy (Ofoeyeno) has a mother who is not only supporting his bad antics but offering bribes and harassing people to end the case. The boy was arraigned on Monday but feigned sickness. No fewer than four of their victims had been identified in our institution, but we are keeping their privacies. Chief Afe Babalola has ordered a full-scale investigation and he wants us to get to the end of this. He is a disciplinarian and won’t condone any indiscipline or immoral conduct.”
First Published 2020
