A 19-year-old National Diploma holder of Yaba College of Technology has been arrested by Officers of the Rapid Response Squad in Ogun State for allegedly blackmailing Salawa Abeni, 59, a popular Waka musician.
The suspect, Olufowoke Oladunjoye Emannuel, who resides at Peace Estate, Magboro Ogun State, was arrested by policemen led by Olatunji Disu, the Commander of the Rapid Response Squad, after 3-days of monitoring him.
Olufowoke, 2017/2018 Electrical Engineering student of Yabatech, confessed that he threatened to publish the nude pictures of Salawa Abeni in exchange for money. He claimed that he found the pictures in a memory card he picked from the floor in November 2019 and got Salawa Abeni’s phone number from her Instagram page. He claimed he acted alone in the criminal scheme.
“On 1st of April, 2020, I chatted her up and also called after sending few of the photos to her online.
“My intention was to negotiate with her for few bucks and for me to destroy the photographs.
“I thought everything was going fine until the following day when I heard the news of the blackmail over the radio. I was with my mother. She was even cursing the blackmailer unknown to her that I was the brain behind it.
“I immediately sneaked out, destroyed the memory card and threw my phone and SIM card into nearby wetland in Magboro. Since then, I never mentioned it to anyone and called Madam Salawa Abeni about it again,” the suspect said.
Salawa Abeni had in April, released a nude picture of herself after getting threats by an unknown person to pay or have the pictures released.
“This morning, I received messages from somebody threatening to expose very old pictures of me and in the process, blackmailing me for money. These could’ve been pictures of me in the hospital or even with my partner, but is this what has become of us?
For you the blackmailer, I refuse to be bullied by you as I’m sure that I’m old enough to be your mother, she said in April.
The Commissioner of Police in Lagos, Hakeem Odumosu, advised guardians to monitor their wards, adding that no individual would be allowed to commit a crime in Lagos and flee to other parts of the country in order to evade arrest.
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