Lukman Olabiyi

The Economic and Financial Crimes Commission (EFCC) has arrested the Controller of the Nigerian Correctional Service (NCoS) Kirikiri, Emmanuel Oluwaniyi and a medical doctor, Hemesin Edwin, a Deputy Controller (DC) over their alleged involvement in the $1million scam pulled by a convicted inmate, Olusegun Aroke.

They were alleged to have given Aroke, a prisoner on 24-year jail term, an exaggerated medical report that enabled his referral for treatment outside the prison facility. Aroke, an Internet scam kingpin, was accused of masterminding a mega fraud which he allegedly committed using a network of accomplices.

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According to a statement posted on the commission’s website, the duo was arrested on Monday and they have made useful statements about their alleged involvement in the crime. The EFCC recalled that Aroke was one of two Malaysia-based Nigerian-undergraduate fraudsters arrested towards the end of 2012 at the 1004 Housing Estate, Victoria Island, following a tip-off.

The suspect, a native of Okene in Kogi State, the EFCC said, had claimed upon arrest that he was a student of Computer Science at the Kuala Lumpur Metropolitan University, Malaysia. However, investigations by the commission revealed that Aroke was the arrowhead of an intricate web of Internet fraud schemes that traversed two continents.