metro

Mother narrates how her son was dead in six hours after Nigerian sextortion scammers hit him

Published

3 weeks ago

June 9, 2024

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.

Sextortion warning: In 6 hours, my son was dead

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.

Uche Ifeanyi Henry, the Director of Nigeria’s Cyber Crime Centre

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

Updated: One feared dead, seven rescued in Lagos two-storey building collapse

Published

3 hours ago

July 3, 2024

Trends Admin

building collapse (Photo file)

Updated: One feared dead, seven rescued in Lagos two-storey building collapse

A child was feared dead in a two-storey that collapsed Wednesday on Cameroon Street in the Mushin area of Lagos State.

Seven other residents were also rescued from the collapsed building by sympathisers.

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The building collapsed following torrential downpours in many parts of Lagos.

A statement by the Lagos State Emergency Management Agency, LASEMA Permanent Secretary, Dr Olufemi Oke-Osanyintolu, said upon arrival of his rescue team at the scene of the incident, it was discovered that the building was newly constructed.

According to him, the seven rescued persons, consisting of three females and four males, have been taken to a nearby hospital for treatment.

The agency also said its rescue team had searched the rubble, confirming that there was no victim underneath the collapsed building.

It added that the area had been cordoned off and that clearing operations were still ongoing in the area as of 12.30pm on Wednesday.

metro

Abductors demand N900m ransom to release Hausa musician’s mother

Published

4 hours ago

July 3, 2024

Trends Admin

Renowned Hausa musician Dauda Adamu (known as Rarara) and mother, Hajiya Hauwa’u Adamu

Abductors demand N900m ransom to release Hausa musician’s mother

A group of bandits who kidnapped Hajiya Hauwa’u Adamu, the mother of renowned Hausa musician Dauda Adamu (known as Rarara), are demanding a ransom of N900 million for her release.

Last week, the Katsina State Police Command confirmed the arrest of two suspects connected to the abduction.

A family source revealed that the kidnappers initially demanded a ransom of N1 billion.

The source was quoted by Daily Trust as saying: “They called the family with a phone of a woman the bandits collected when they came to pick up Hajiya. They demanded N1bn but after a brief discussion with a member of the family, they reduced the amount to N900million.

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“At first, they demanded to seal the deal with Rarara himself because he felt sick following the abduction of his mother. They agreed to strike the deal with a member of the family. They confirmed to the family that Hajiya is in good condition and that she would be released as soon as the money is paid.

“The discussion between the bandits and family was very brief and since then they have not called again. But I believe the negotiation is still on. So, the family is still waiting for the bandits’ call to continue with negotiation.

“We learnt that after they gained access into her bedroom, they woke up all the women that were sleeping together with her and started comparing their faces with the photograph.”

Abductors demand N900m ransom to release Hausa musician’s mother

metro

Couple jailed 11 years for sexually assaulting 15-year-old girl in Lagos

Published

5 hours ago

July 3, 2024

Trends Admin

Couple jailed 11 years for sexually assaulting 15-year-old girl in Lagos

The Ikeja Sexual Offences and Domestic Violence Court, on Monday, arraigned and sentenced on an amended charge, a couple, Ezimora Okechukwu, a 49-year-old, to seven years and three years consecutively for indecent handling and sexual assault, and his wife, Ezimora Obioma, to one year of community service for concealing the act of sexual assault done to their housemaid.

According to the prosecution counsel, the offences committed by the couple contravene Section 135 (1), 163 and 415 of the Criminal Law of Lagos State.

The court heard that the incident occurred on July 17, 2022, in the house of the convicts, in the Abule-Osun area of Lagos State.

PUNCH Metro gathered that the victim, a 15-year-old housemaid at the time of the incident, was indecently handled, touched and sexually assaulted by Okechukwu. The victim reported the heinous act to Obioma who concealed the incident and did not report it to the authorities.

Their amended charge read, “Felony contrary to Section 135(1) of the Criminal Law of Lagos State, 2015. Did you, Ezimora Okechukwu, on July 17, 2022, at No 9, Block 19, Divine Height Street, Abule Osun, Lagos State, indecently handle a victim, a 15-year-old, by caressing her breast?”

“Sexual assault contrary to Section 163 of the Criminal Law of Lagos State. Did you Ezimora Okechukwu sexually assault the victim?”

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“Accessory after the fact of felony contrary to Section 415 of the Criminal Law of Lagos State. Did you Ezimora Obioma, fail to notify police when the victim age 15 years, reported to you that one Ezimora Okechukwu had sexual intercourse with her.”

Both defendants pleaded guilty to the charges.

PUNCH Metro reports that the first defendant’s charge, which was, “Defilement contrary to Section 137 of the Criminal Law of Lagos State 2015, was reduced after he applied for a plea bargain through his counsel. He and his wife were then granted a lesser charge and sentence.

The prosecution counsel attested to this saying, “The Honourable Attorney General considered the request on the grounds that the defendants showed remorse for their actions, were first-time offenders with no previous convictions and the impact of the conviction on the second defendant and her four young children.”

He further stated, “The Attorney General then accepted that the 2nd defendant be sentenced to a conditional discharge of one-year community service.”

Delivering his judgment, Justice Ramon Oshodi held that the act committed by the couple was heinous.

“The first defendant stands accused of a heinous act, the defilement of a vulnerable housemaid who found shelter under his roof. The second defendant, rather than being a protector or seeking justice, the second defendant is said to have become an accomplice in silence and an accessory, she stands accused of disregarding the victim’s right by concealing the alleged crime even after the occurrence. These allegations paint a picture of the horror of abuse of power and moral failure challenging our society’s most fundamental principle of care and trust,” he held.

He then sentenced the first defendant, Okechukwu, to seven years for indecent handling and three years for sexually assaulting the victim, both sentences would run concurrently, and also sentenced Obioma to one year of community service.