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Mother narrates how her son was dead in six hours after Nigerian sextortion scammers hit him
Mother narrates how her son was dead in six hours after Nigerian sextortion scammers hit him
Sextortion is the fastest-growing scam affecting teenagers globally and has been linked to more than 27 suicides in the US alone. Many of the scammers appear to be from Nigeria – where authorities are defending their actions and are under pressure to do more.
It has been two years since Jenn Buta’s son Jordan killed himself after being targeted by scammers who lured him into sending them explicit images of himself, and then tried to blackmail him.
She still can’t bring herself to change anything about his bedroom.
The 17-year-old’s basketball jerseys, clothes, posters and bedsheets are just how he left them.
The curtains are closed, and the door is shut to keep memories of him that only a parent would understand.
“It still smells like him. That’s one of the reasons I still have the door closed. I can still smell that sweat, dirt, cologne mix in this room. I’m just not ready to part with his stuff,” she said.
Jordan was contacted by sextortion scammers on Instagram.
They pretended to be a pretty girl his age and flirted with him, sending sexual pictures to coax him into sharing explicit photos of himself.
They then blackmailed him for hundreds of pounds to stop them sharing the pictures online to his friends.
Samuel, 22, and Samson Ogoshi, 20, arrested in Lagos, are awaiting sentencing in the US
Jordan sent as much money as he could and warned the sextortionists he would kill himself if they spread the images. The criminals replied: “Good… Do that fast – or I’ll make you do it.”
It was less than six hours from the time Jordan started communicating until the time he ultimately took his life.
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“There’s actually a script online,” Jenn told BBC News, from her home in Michigan, in the north of the US. “And these people are just going through the script and putting that pressure on.
“And they’re doing it quick, because then they can move on to the next person, because it’s about volume.”
The criminals were tracked to Nigeria, arrested, and then extradited to the US.
Two brothers from Lagos – Samuel Ogoshi, 22, and Samson Ogoshi, 20 – are awaiting sentencing after pleading guilty to child sexploitation charges. Another Nigerian man linked to Jordan’s death and other cases is fighting extradition.
Jordan’s mother, Jenn, has posted dozens of videos to raise awareness
Jordan’s tragic story has become a touch point in the fight against the growing problem of sextortion.
Jenn is a now high-profile campaigner on TikTok – using the account Jordan set up for her – to raise awareness about the dangers of sextortion to young people. Her videos have been liked more than a million times.
It’s feared that sextortion is under-reported due to its sensitive nature. But US crime figures show cases more than doubled last year, rising to 26,700, with at least 27 boys having killed themselves in the past two years.
Researchers and law enforcement agencies point to West Africa, and particularly Nigeria, as a hotspot for where attackers are based.
In April, two Nigerian men were arrested after a schoolboy from Australia killed himself. Two other men are on trial in Lagos, after the suicides of a 15-year-old boy in the US and a 14-year-old in Canada.
In January, US cyber-company Network Contagion Research Institute (NCRI) highlighted a web of Nigerian TikTok, YouTube and Scribd accounts sharing tips and scripts for sextortion. Many of the discussions and videos are in Nigerian Pidgin dialect.
It’s not the first time that Nigeria’s young tech-savvy population has embraced a new wave of cyber-crime.
The term Yahoo Boys is used to describe a portion of the population that use cyber-crime to earn a living. It comes from the early 2000s wave of Nigerian Prince scam emails which spread through the Yahoo email service.
Dr Tombari Sibe, from Digital Footprints Nigeria, says cyber-fraud such as sextortion has become normalised to young people in the country: “There’s also the big problem of unemployment and of poverty.
“All these young ones who don’t really have much – it’s become almost like a mainstream activity where they don’t really think too much about the consequences. They just see their colleagues making money.”
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African human rights charity Devatop has said the current methods of handling sextortion in Nigeria have failed to effectively curb the practice. And a report from NCRI said that celebrating sextortion crimes are an established part of the internet subculture in the country.
In an exclusive interview with the BBC, the director of Nigeria’s National Cyber Crime Centre (NCCC) defended his police force’s actions, and insisted it was working hard to catch criminals and deter others from carrying out attacks.
Uche Ifeanyi Henry said his officers were “hitting criminals hard” and said it is “laughable” that anyone should accuse Nigeria of not taking sextortion crime seriously.
Sextortion criminals are not only from Nigeria, Cyber Crime Centre director Uche Ifeanyi Henry says
“We are giving criminals a very serious hit. A lot have been prosecuted and a lot have been arrested,” he said. “Many of these criminals are moving to neighbouring countries now because of our activity.”
The NCCC director pointed to the fact that the government has spent millions of pounds on a state-of-the-art cyber-crime centre, to show it was taking cyber-crime seriously, especially sextortion.
He said Nigerian teenagers are also being targeted, and he argued that the criminals were not just a Nigerian problem, with other sextortionists in south-east Asia. Tackling them would require global support, he said.
With that in mind, the director and his technical team are this week visiting the UK’s National Crime Agency, which last month issued a warning to children and schools about a rise in sextortion cases.
The visit is designed to improve collaboration on sextortion and other cyber-crime investigations. It follows similar recent meetings with Japanese police.
Meanwhile, Jenn Buta continues to campaign alongside Jordan’s father John DeMay. They regularly give advice to young people who may become victims.
Advice that Jenn and many law enforcement agencies regularly give people targeted by sextortionists includes:
- Remember you are not alone and this is not your fault
- Report the predator’s account, via the platform’s safety feature
- Block the predator from contacting you
- Save the profile or messages – they can help law enforcement identify and stop the predator
- Ask for help from a trusted adult or law enforcement before sending money or more images
- Co-operating with the predator rarely stops the blackmail and harassment – but law enforcement can
Mother narrates how her son was dead in six hours after Nigerian sextortion scammers hit him
BBC
metro
Lagos govt insists nightclubs, worship centres must obtain permit for amplified sound
Lagos govt insists nightclubs, worship centres must obtain permit for amplified sound
The Lagos State Government has rolled out stricter measures to combat noise pollution, requiring nightclubs, lounges, bars, and worship centres to obtain permits for events involving amplified sound.
The measure, it said, aimed to safeguard the health and well-being of Lagosians during the festive season and beyond.
Lagos State Commissioner for Environment and Water Resources, Tokunbo Wahab, announced this via his official X (formerly Twitter) account on Saturday, emphasizing the government’s zero-tolerance stance on noise pollution.
Wahab highlighted that events with amplified sound must be conducted in soundproofed, enclosed spaces to protect residents from the harmful effects of excessive noise.
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“Establishments such as worship centers, nightclubs, lounges, and bars must now obtain permits for events involving amplified sound and ensure these activities take place in soundproofed, enclosed spaces to protect neighboring residents,” the statement read in part.
To enforce these directives, the government said it had established a Special Task Force on Noise Pollution under the Lagos State Environmental Protection Agency (LASEPA).
This task force, in collaboration with the Lagos State Neighborhood Safety Corps (LSNSC) and the Lagos State Environmental Sanitation Corps (LAGESC), would oversee compliance, arrest offenders, and prosecute violators of noise regulations, it stated.
The statement further noted that starting January 2025, the government would roll out a public awareness campaign to educate Lagosians on acceptable noise levels and the benefits of a quieter environment.
Lagos govt insists nightclubs, worship centres must obtain permit for amplified sound
metro
Alleged missing N180m: It’s a prank, Singer Dammy Krane says
Alleged missing N180m: It’s a prank, Singer Dammy Krane says
Singer, Dammy Krane has stated that social critic, Very Dark Man, is joking with claims that N180 million was diverted from the NGO account he created in October this year.
VDM shocked Nigerians on Friday, December 27 when he released a video claiming hackers had breached his NGO website and moved N180m leaving only N20 million.
The news shocked many Nigerians who took to social media to slam him.
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However, in a post shared on his Instagram page this evening, Dammy Krane claimed that VDM is renovating a school in Jos, and was only joking with the story of stolen funds.
Also, a Human Rights activist, Omotayo Williams, claimed the man VDM showed in his video as an officer accompanying him to Jos is a well-known member of the Kogi State Taxi Taskforce.
Alleged missing N180m: It’s a prank, Singer Dammy Krane says
metro
Oluwo backs push for Sharia law in South-West
Oluwo backs push for Sharia law in South-West
The Oluwo of Iwo, Oba Abdulrasheed Akanbi, has expressed support for the proposed implementation of Sharia law in the South-West, emphasizing its historical presence in Yoruba culture.
Oba Akanbi noted that Sharia principles have long been part of Yoruba land, citing examples such as Sharia banking and the existence of a Sharia college in Iwo, Osun State.
He stated, “Sharia law has been in Iwo for over 100 years… It’s the right of Muslims to choose customary law or the high court.”
Recall that the discussion around Sharia law gained traction after plans were announced for the inauguration of a Sharia council on January 11, 2025, at the Muslim Community Islamic Centre in Oyo. However, the event has been postponed indefinitely following widespread public criticism.
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Critics have argued that the Yoruba-dominated South-West, where Muslims and Christians coexist, is distinct from the predominantly Muslim northern region where Sharia is more widely practiced.
Addressing concerns, Oba Akanbi explained that Sharia law is already embedded in Nigeria’s constitution and should not cause alarm for non-Muslims.
“Sharia law is only for Muslims and does not concern others. If any other person likes it, they can convert to Islam, and Muslims can also convert to Christianity. Everyone is free,” he said.
The monarch also drew attention to the challenges faced by Muslims under existing laws, particularly in matters such as inheritance and divorce, where Western legal frameworks may not align with Islamic traditions. “Many Muslims feel disenfranchised… Western education doesn’t understand the ways of Muslim divorce, marriage, and inheritance,” he added.
Oba Akanbi emphasized that Sharia law represents the inalienable rights of Muslims and should not be viewed as a threat to other religions. “No government can deny Muslims their inalienable rights,” he concluded.
Oluwo backs push for Sharia law in South-West
(PUNCH)
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