A United States citizen, Vonapolouis Moss, has explained to the Kwara State Police Command how she was tricked into travelling to Nigeria by Joshua Awoyele, a 23-year-old suspected Internet fraudster widely known as “yahoo boy”.
Moss of 2962, W 64th Court, Merrillville, Indiana 46410, USA said she was lured into the country on January 9, 2023, by the suspect.
She further added that she met him on TikTok, a social media platform, and he claimed to be an American by the name of Howard Adams currently working in Nigeria.
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Narrating the incident, the state police command said the suspected fraudster identified as Joshua Awoleye, a Higher National Diploma student of the Kwara State Polytechnic, Ilorin allegedly lured the foreigner and swindled her of the sum of $1000 when she came to Nigeria.
Parading the suspect at the police headquarters in Ilorin on Friday, the Commissioner of Police, Paul Odama, said that Awoleye of Sabo-Oke Road, Ilorin lodged Moss in a hotel and defrauded her.
According to the CP, “On January 12, 2023, at about 1200 hours, based on actionable intelligence, operatives of the SCID at the Kwara State Police Command arrested one Awoleye Joshua Oluwatofunmi, “male” of Sabo-Oke Road, Ilorin, within the premises of a hotel along Flower Garden Road, Ilorin, in company with one Vonapolouis Moss, an American citizen.
“A preliminary investigation revealed that the suspect, who is an Internet fraudster known as Yahoo Boy, presented himself to the victim on TikTok, a social media platform, as an American by the name of Howard Adams and ripped her off for about 1,000 USD.
“The suspect later took a step further by luring the victim to fly into Nigeria on January 9, 2023, through the Murtala Mohammed International Airport in Lagos, after which she flew into Ilorin the next day and was received by the suspect.
“The suspect also deceitfully took an unspecified amount of USD from the victim before she was rescued by police operatives.
“The necessary authorities have been contacted for appropriate action,” he said.
Odama added that the victim had been moved into secure custody by the state police command pending her return trip to the USA.
Speaking in an interview with newsmen, Vonapoloius said that she arrived in the country on Monday night and moved from Lagos to Ilorin on Tuesday morning.
“We met on social media and he invited me to visit Nigeria but when I came, he took me to the Bureau de Change to change my money to Nigerian currency and he also took me to Shoprite. When the money on me finished, he told me to tell my people to send more.”
The foreigner who said that she liked Nigeria, however, said that she would like to return to the US.
“I like Nigeria and I would like to come back but what I want now is to go back to America,” she said.
The Police Commissioner said that although Joshua confessed, he would not be handed to the Operatives of the Economic and Financial Crimes Commission but would be investigated by the police and charged to court after a thorough investigation of his alleged crime.