Man arrested for running cyber-fraud school, 16 'students' grabbed

Afolabi Samad, a Nigerian, was apprehended by the country’s Economic and Financial Crimes Commission (EFCC) in Abuja.

The commission said the young man was the founder of a Yahoo Yahoo (cyber-fraud) Academy in Abuja.

The EFCC's Head of Media and Publicity, Wilson Uwujaren, said the suspect and 16 of his students were arrested in a sting operation, Pulse.ng reports.

The suspects, whose ages range between 18 and 27 years, were arrested at their hideout located in Peace Court Estate, Lokogoma area of the state, the news outlet reports.

"Items recovered from the suspects include laptops, phones, charms, and two vehicles: a Lexus RX350 and Toyota Highlander. The suspects will be charged to court as soon as investigations are concluded," Wilson Uwujaren is quoted as having said.

Samad reportedly rented the three-bedroom apartment at the rate of N3 million to teach his apprentices the tricks of cyber-fraud.

He and his apprentices are expected to be put before a court after investigations are concluded.

Meanwhile, in an earlier report, police in Nigeria’s Ekiti state have launched an investigation to ascertain whether, indeed, one pastor, Ade Abraham, has taken huge sums of money from his congregants to take them to heaven.

According to the BBC, an aggrieved member of the clergyman’s church lodged a complaint with the police about his alleged conduct.

The complainant told the police that the man of God had charged him 310,000 naira (GHC5643.25) to see the supposed heaven gate in Araromi-Ugbeshi town, Ekiti state, where he claimed that God had revealed to him.

It is reported that Pastor Ade Abraham’s church was originally based in Kogi state, then Kaduna state, before moving southwards with his followers to a camp he built in Ekiti state.

His unhappy follower who reported him to the police has since moved back home to Kaduna state, but his wife refused to join him, saying the "rapture" is coming soon, the BBC report says.

It is further reported that the Christian Association of Nigeria has released a statement disowning Pastor Ade Abraham, who is also known as Noah Abraham, and also condemned his alleged conduct.

He admitted to the BBC that he had made the statement about Heaven’s Gate, saying it was "the God he serves" who revealed it to him to test the faith of his church members.

He was, however, quick to deny allegations that he had charged his followers to take them to the supposed heaven.

The Ekiti state police have collected written statements from members of his church and launched an investigation, the BBC reports.