The operatives of the Rapid Response Squad (RRS) attached to the Lagos State Police Command has arrested a 35-year-old ex-convict, Michael Atanda for threatening to expose nude pictures of four women he met on social media unless they paid money into his bank account.
The suspect, a father of three, was arrested by the Decoy Team of RRS after about five days of baiting and monitoring. Prior to his arrest, he had collected the sum of N121, 000:00 from his four victims with the threat but wanted the ladies to pay more or face the consequences of leaking their nude pictures on social media.
Atanda, a Computer Science National Diploma holder of a popular computer school based in Ikeja, disguised as Segun Bayo on Facebook and a graduate of Obafemi Awolowo University Ile-Ife. Confessing to his crime, the suspect who was jailed for a similar offence last year said he went about adding several ladies on Facebook and that after two weeks, he would start chatting with them.
In his words, “the profile picture on my Facebook account is that of a guy based in London, and so as part of my introductions to ladies, I tell them that, I am a Construction Engineer as well as that my parents and I live Europe. After sometime, I would lure them into sexual conversations during which I persuaded them to send their nude pictures to me. They would send and I would send mine to them too.”
Speaking further, he said “as soon as they have sent their nude pictures, I would come up with all manners of stories. I would begin to extort and blackmail them. Through this means, I have collected over N121, 000:00 from my latest victims.”
Atanda who also operates a bank account with the same name, Segun Bayo, in one of the old generation banks disclosed to the Police that “I was jailed last year in a similar circumstance after fraudulently collecting N700, 000:00 from a lady I met through a dating site. I was eventually bailed but the case is still pending in court.”
Commenting on the development, the Police Public Relations Officer, Superintendent Dolapo Badmos, said that the Police were carrying out a thorough investigation on the case to aid prosecution. The suspect has been transferred to SCID for further investigations.
