Eniola Olorundare
The Federal Bureau of Investigation (FBI) has published a list of people involved in romance scams, and 11 Nigerians has made the list.
The Nigerians, eleven in number have all been indicted by a US federal grand jury for charges of fraud conspiracy, money laundering, mail and wire fraud conspiracy.
They are said to have made rich widows, divorced persons, and elderly ladies the target of their romance scam.
They were arrested by the FBI during a raid on Wednesday in various parts of the United States including DFW, Eastern District of Texas, Dallas, Lubbock, Los Angeles and charged in the Northern District of Texas.
Those arrested and later charged to court are: David Animashaun, 38; Oluwalobamise Michael Moses, 40; Irabor Fatarr Musa, 51; Ijeoma Okoro, 31; Chukwemeka Orji, 36; Emanuel Stanley Orji, 35; Frederick Orji, 37; Uwadiale Esezobor, 36; Victor Idowu, 36; Afeez Abiola Alao, 37; and Ambrose Sunday Ohide, 47.
The indicted persons face up to 30 years in federal prison for charges against them if they are eventually convicted.
According to data by the FBI, more than 20,000 people lost more than $600 million in romance scams in 2020 alone.
Romance scam in Nigeria is especially common among the youth, when you look at the life’s of all these youths, more than 85% of them are unemployed and underemployed.
The government and the society has a huge role to play in reshaping the way the international society view the country.
Moreso, the government needs to engage in more meticulous way to create jobs for the Nigerian youths, also creating a conducive and passionate environment to create businesses making them employers and employable.
The youths also should be reoriented about value adding to the society.
Quite a number of youth, in an interview with Phenomenal Correspondent claimed that they engage in internet scamming due to lack of jobs and some claimed that they are following the footsteps of their political fathers.
This brings us to the conclusion that everybody has a role to play in developing a developing country like Nigeria.
