Juliana Francis
A 19-year-old boy, Olufowoke Oladunjoye Emmanuel, has been arrested for threatening to release nude pictures of popular musician, Queen Salawa Abeni, on the internet if she didn’t cough up certain amount of money.
Emmanuel confessed to have been the mastermind behind the ploy to publish some nude pictures of Waka Queen in exchange for money. He said that he was alone in the scheme.
The suspect, National Diploma Holder (OND) of Electrical Engineering, Yaba College of Technology, explained that on July 20, 2018, he saw nude the pictures in a memory card which he picked on the ground in Yabatech sometime in November 2019.
After downloading the nude pictures of Abeni on his phone, he then got her mobile number from her Instagram page and started chatting her.
He said: “On April 1, 2020, I chatted her up and also called her after sending few of the photos to her online. My intention was to negotiate with her for few bucks and then destroy the photographs. I thought everything was going on fine until the following day when I heard the news of the blackmail over the radio. I was with my mother. My mother was even cursing the blackmailer, unknown to her that I was the person. I sneaked out, destroyed the memory card and threw my mobile phone and SIM card into nearby wetland in Magboro. Since then, I never mentioned it to anyone or called Madam Salawa Abeni about it again.”
Operatives of Rapid Response Squad (RRS), Ikeja, Lagos State Police Command, who made the arrest, were shocked to discover that a teenager was behind the blackmailing scheme of Abeni.
The suspect, living at Brentfield Avenue, Peace Estate, Magboro, Ogun State, was picked up by the Decoy Team of RRS last week Thursday, after three days of surveillance.
The Lagos State Commissioner of Police, Mr. Hakeem Odumosu, sequel to the attempt to blackmail Abeni sometime in April 2020, directed RRS Commander, a Deputy Commissioner of Police (DCP), Mr Olatunji Disu to fish out the suspect.
A police source said: “After technical diagnosis of the complaint, the Decoy Team narrowed down on the suspect few days later. The suspect couldn’t be picked because of the prevalence of COVID-19.”
Odumosu stated that no individual would be allowed to commit a crime in Lagos from any state or escape to other states in Nigeria to evade arrest.
He stated: “Parents and guardians should monitor their wards. The internet is a fertile ground for opportunities but the Command will not allow criminals use it as avenue to exploit law abiding Lagosians.”
First Published 2020
