From Isaac Anumihe, Abuja
The suspected Yahoo boy who tied a lady for ritual purposes in an Abuja hotel on Friday has confessed that his plan was not to kill his victim but to rob her.
In an interview with Joseph Efe, he said that he started the business last month and he has been able to make over N500,000.
He told Daily Sun that he is an artist and nobody introduced him to the business.
Efe, who is 30-years-old,, also told Daily Sun that although he has parents, he doesn’t know if they are alive or not.
According to him, he met his victim, Olivia Ijeoma Chukwuemeka, on a hookup app called Coded Runs and they agreed on N100,000. But when his victim got to Top View Hotel in Zone 5, Abuja, he tied her hands, and legs and stuffed her mouth with wool and a white handkerchief; took her phone and tried to withdraw her money from her Opay account. Unfortunately for him, his victim had no money in her account.
Annoyed over the incident, he locked her inside the room and made for escape before he was apprehended by the officers of the Nigeria Security and Civil Defence Corps (NSCDC).
However, his 25-year-old victim, Olivia Ijeoma Chukwuemeka (from Abia State), said that when she came to the hotel room, Efe asked him if he was afraid of death. He told her that if she cooperated with him, she would not end up like other girls he had killed.
He threatened to inject her with a deadly fluid if she didn’t cooperate with him.
Consequently, he tied her hands and legs with a white sellotape. Then he stripped her naked and used her clothes to tie her. Not satisfied, he also used a white handkerchief to stuff her mouth and lock her in the room.
He demanded that her Opay app be opened. When he opened the app, she had no money in her account. So, he locked her in the room and tried to escape but he was apprehended by NSCDC officers
Speaking to newsmen, earlier, after parading the victim, the Commandant, Federal Capital Territory (FCT) Command, Dr Olusola Odumosu, said that upon interrogation, the suspect confessed to being a ‘Yahoo boy’ and that he has not been making money from it. So, he decided to hunt for young girls on a dating site called ‘coded runs’.
“He operates from Port Harcourt, Lagos, Benin and Abuja. Preliminary investigation reveals that the suspect, Mr Efe is a serial fraudster (yahoo) and a thief, who specialises in luring ladies on dating site, one of which is, ‘‘Coded runs” into hotel rooms with the intent to rob them of their phones and make withdrawals from his victims’ bank account.
“Investigation also reveals that the suspect arrived Abuja from Lagos on September, 17, 2024 and lodged in FAB Hotel by Top Rank Hotel adjacent old Federal Secretariat, Areal 1, Abuja.
“His first victim on arrival in Abuja was another lady he invited to his hotel room but could not succeed in his evil act because the lady was able to put up some resistance.
“The noise attracted hotel staff at the said hotel, who came into his room. He succeeded in escaping from the scene due to poor handling of the situation by the hotel security.
“Upon his escape from FAB Hotel, he then proceeded to Top View Hotel where he checked in at about 2:30am of Wednesday, September 18, 2024. He invited his latest victim who arrived about 9am.
“He threatened her, putting fear in her and holding her by the throat. The frightened lady succumbed. She was stripped and bound hands, legs and mouth by the suspect. On checking the victim’s phone he discovered the lady had no money in her bank account, he then took the victim’s android phone and left the hotel room.
“It was in the process of escaping from the hotel premises that his movement became suspicious, but in the process of trying to stop him, he took to his heels. He was chased and caught by NSCDC operatives,” he said.
Odumosu used the occasion to warn hotel operators to install protective devices in their hotels to protect their guests.
He also used the occasion to warn ladies to be wary of the kind of people they are relating with to avoid being killed.
“The command wants to use this medium to warn all hotel owners to be more vigilant. They should do more to protect their guests and hotel facilities and ensure their premises are not used as a place to perpetrate crime,” he said.
Recall that Efe and Olivia’s video went viral on the internet early this week where Olivia was seen tied hands and legs.