A US citizen, Vonapolouis Moss, has told the Kwara State Police Command how she was targeted by Joshua Awoyele, a 23-year-old suspected internet fraudster, widely known as “yahoo boy” in Nigeria.
Moss of 2962, W 64th Court, Merrillville, Indiana 46410, USA said she was lured to the country on January 9, 2023, by the suspect.
She further added that she met him on TikTok, a social media platform, and he claims to be an American named Howard Adams who is currently working in Nigeria.
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 defrauded her of the sum of $1000 when she entered Nigeria.
Parading the suspect at the police headquarters in Ilorin on Friday, the Commissioner of Police, Paul Odama, said Awoleye of Sabo-Oke Road, Ilorin hired Moss at 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 arrested. 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, introduced himself to the victim on TikTok, a social media platform, as an American named Howard Adams and ripped her off for about USD 1,000.
“The suspect later went a step further by luring the victim to Nigeria on January 9, 2023, through the Murtala Mohammed International Airport in Lagos after which she flew to Ilorin the next day and was received by the suspect.
“The suspect also deceptively took an unspecified amount of USD from the victim before she was rescued by police officers.
“The necessary authorities have been contacted for appropriate action,” he said.
Odama added that the victim has been moved to the security of the state police command, pending her return trip to the United States.
In an interview with newsmen, Vonapoloius said she arrived in the country on Monday evening 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 into Nigerian currency and he also took me to Shoprite .When the money was ready for me, he told me to tell my people to send more.
The foreigner who said she loved Nigeria, however, said she would like to return to the United States.
“I love 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 even if Joshua confessed, he would not be handed over to Economic and Financial Crimes Commission operatives but would be investigated by the police and charged to court after a thorough investigation into his alleged crime.
