Police arrest three over conspiracy, cyberstalking, threat to life

Police arrest three over conspiracy, cyberstalking, threat to life

The Nigeria Police Force National Cybercrime Center (NPF-NCC) has arrested three in connection with a case of conspiracy, cyber-stalking and threat to life.

The police said the suspects were arrested, following a petition at the instance of Hon and Doctor Mrs. Seye Oladejo.

The Force said the development is an onward fight against the menace of cyber-stalking, threat to life and blackmailing schemes operating in the guise of micro-blogging pages, and contending with the online safety of many.

The suspects namely: Adebukola Kolapo, Nnedum Micheal Somtomchukwu and Isaac Akpokighe, all male of ages 27, 25 and 30 respectively, are members of a syndicate called Gistlover Family, responsible for the daily running of the Gistlover blog, a micro-blogging platform known for cyber-stalking, incitement, blackmail, and sundry, which has over the years been a cause for public outcry.

Upon arrest, the police said the suspects revealed their various degrees of involvement in the conspiracy, corroborating the already available overwhelming evidences.

According to a statement issued yesterday by the Force Public Relations Officer, ACP Olumuyiwa Adejobi: “The first suspect, Adebukola Kolapo a.k.a Omo-Oba Gistlover was responsible for the creation of over 80 percent of the Gistlover pages, thereby lending his digital footprint for the perpetration of the aforementioned criminal act.

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“Being on the pay roll of the said platform and having enjoyed incentives like car gifts and monies, Adebukola was saddled with the responsibility of scouting, editing and captioning contents, including the cyber stalking post made against the complainant, Hon. and Dr. Mrs Oluseyi Oladejo. Adebukola has also contributed in laundering monies gotten from the illegal scheme through various means.

“In more developments, digital forensic analysis led to the recovery of eight (8) gist lover pages created on the instruction of the head of the syndicate by Adebukola, and wallet addresses used in laundering these monies.

“The second suspect, One Nnedum Somtochukwu, also shared in the conspiracy, wherein at every point the page was taken down for certain infractions and violation of policies at the instance of reports from Law Enforcement Agencies, the suspect, using his platform, will by all means redirect traffic to the new page, helping the blog to evade sanctions.

“Enjoying incentives like referrals for promotions from the head of the syndicate, Nnedum has also been found sharing contents, feed backs, and making defamatory remarks with the said head of the syndicate.

“The third suspect, Isaac Akpokighe, a 30 years old male resident of Igando Lagos State unlike the duo above, is like hundreds of Nigerians whom having observed the lucrative nature of the blackmailing, cyber-stalking and false information market, decides to imitate the Gistlover blog. By so doing, he created several such pages and mirrored the activities of the blog, including reposting the defamatory and life-threatening post against the complainant and many other notable Nigerians. Digital forensics led to the recovery of four Gistlover pages created by Isaac Apkokogho”.

Adejobi said the suspects will be charged to court upon the conclusion of the investigation.