The police command in Delta says it has apprehended three suspected Facebook scammers, kidnappers, and rapists in the state.

The command spokesman, Bright Edafe, disclosed this to journalists on Wednesday in Warri.

Mr Edafe said the suspects were nabbed on Monday by police operatives attached to the Ufuoma Police Division in Ughelli North Local Government Area of the state.

He said the arrest followed a complaint from a lady (name withheld) that she saw one of the hoodlums that kidnapped her on December 11, 2022.

According to Mr Edafe, the victim complained that the suspects held her hostage at a hotel in the Iwherekpokpor community, Ughelli North, videoed and took nude pictures.

Mr Edafe said the victim reported that the suspects used the video and nude pictures to blackmail and demand ransom from her parents.

“On receipt of this complaint, the DPO Ufuoma Police Division immediately detailed a combined team of police detectives and Ekiugbo Community vigilante members and arrested one Cornelius Emene.

“During preliminary investigation, the suspect made a useful statement that led to the arrest of two others, Nelson Aghogho and Ufuoma Tunde.

“The suspects also gave an account of how they kidnapped another student of the School of Health and Technology, Ofuoma in Ughelli North,” he said.

Mr Edafe said the modus operandi of the syndicate was to lure unsuspecting young girls on Facebook, take them to a hotel, and drug and gang rape them.

He added that the suspects thereafter held them hostage and demanded ransom from their parents to secure their release.

According to the spokesman, the suspects’ phones contained numerous nude photos and video recordings of their previous victims, which they used to blackmail them and their parents.

Mr Edafe said an investigation into the matter was ongoing. 

(NAN)