Online vendor allegedly defrauds over 100 people of N150million in Niger – Police

Operatives of the Niger State Police Command have arrested a 23-year-old online vendor, Akinnowonu Damilola Victoria, for allegedly defrauding over one hundred people of N150 million in Minna, the state capital.

The command’s spokesperson, DSP W. A. Abiodun, disclosed this in a statement released on Friday, June 2.

According to him, “A case of cheating, criminal breach of trust, and internet-related offences was referred to the command from Magistrate Court Minna on May 22, 2023, involving one Akinnowonu Damilola Victoria, aged 23 years, of Kolawole Street, Tunga, Minna.

Immediately after the case was referred, police operatives attached to SCID swung into action, and the suspect was arrested with the help of the family.

During interrogation, she claimed to have been operating an online business for about a year, via a link she discovered on Facebook, by showcasing items such as female clothes, bags, shoes, phones, laptops, and other electronic gadgets.

She said that through this act, she was able to gather many customers online who usually place orders for such items. She asserted further that, due to her customers’ complaints about price, she took some orders at a low rate and sometimes used the proceeds to supply other customers.

Consequently, by piling up orders, she could not meet up for other transactions. A preliminary investigation revealed that she deceived her victims into believing that her goods were seized by the Customs. She also rented two warehouses located in Tunga and Kpakungu areas of Minna for over two million naira, which she used to deepen her frugal escapades.

She confessed that, by her rough estimates, she owes over one hundred customers to the tune of about one hundred and fifty million naira. Presently, about 72 victims have so far surfaced at SCID Minna to give the police statements of their ordeal with the suspect.”