•Recover 12 accounts
Operatives of the. Nigeria Police Force (NPF) National Cybercrime Centre (NCC) have arrested three suspects and recovered 12 accounts over cyberstalking and blackmailing via different blogs, including the popular blog, Gistlover.
This was made known by the Force Public Relations Officer (FPRO), ACP Olumuyiwa Adejobi, on Friday, January 5.
The FPRO said that the development followed efforts in the war against the menace of cyberstalking, threat to life and blackmailing schemes operating in the guise of micro blogging pages, and contending with the online safety of many.
He said the NPF-NCC acted on a petition at the instance of Honourable and Dr (Mrs) Seye Oladejo, adding that three suspects were later arrested in connection with a case of conspiracy, cyberstalking, and threat to life.
“The suspects, namely Adebukola Kolapo, Nnedum Micheal Somtomchukwu and Isaac Akpokighe, all males 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 microblogging platform known for cyberstalking, incitement, blackmail and sundry,, which has over the years been a course for public outcry.
“Upon arrest, the suspects revealed their various degrees of involvement in the conspiracy, corroborating the already available overwhelming evidences.
“The first suspect, 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.
“Being on the payroll of the said platform and having enjoyed incentives like car gifts and monies, Kolapo was saddled with the responsibility of scouting, editing and captioning contents including the cyber stalking post made against the complainant, Hon. and Dr. (Mrs) Oladejo.
“Kolapo 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 gist lover pages created on the instruction of the head of the syndicate by Kolapi, and wallet addresses used in laundering these monies.
“The second suspect, Nnedum, 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, a 30-year-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, decided to imitate the Gistlover blog.
“By so doing, he created several of 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.
“The suspects will be charged to court upon the conclusion of the investigation.
“While strongly warning against all sorts of partnerships that promote the illegal activities of this blog and others engaging in similar activities, the Inspector General of Police (IGP) Olukayode Egbetokun, applauded the Nigeria Police Force National Cybercrime Center, led by CP Uche Ifeanyi Henry, as he reaffirmed the commitment of the Force to ensuring the safety of citizens in the physical and digital space,” the statement by ACP Adejobi read.
