The Benin Zonal Directorate of the Economic and Financial Crimes Commission, EFCC, on Monday in sting operations at various locations in Benin City, Edo State, arrested 92 suspected internet fraudsters.
This was disclosed in a statement on Wednesday by the spokesperson for the anti-graft agency, Dele Oyewale.
Oyewale, who said the suspects were arrested by EFCC operatives following information about their involvement in internet fraud, stated that 11 vehicles and different makes of mobile devices were also recovered from them.
The statement by Oyewale reads:
“Operatives of the Benin Zonal Directorate of the Economic and Financial Crimes Commission, EFCC, have arrested 92 suspected internet fraudsters in Edo State.
“They were arrested in a sting operation on Monday, September 29, 2025, at various locations within Benin City, Edo State.
“Their arrest was based on credible intelligence about their suspected involvement in computer related crimes. All the lawful procedures of arrest were followed in the course of the arrest
“Upon their arrest, 11 vehicles and mobile devices were recovered from them.
Preliminary investigations by the Commission linked the suspects with various forms of internet-related fraud.
“They will be charged to court as soon as investigations are concluded”.
In another development, the EFCC said it has also arraigned one Godslove Munachiso Obiwuru, a 26-year-old Federal Bureau of Investigation, FBI, suspect before Justice M. T. Segun-Bello of the Federal High Court sitting in Independence Layout, Enugu State.
He was arraigned on a two-count charge bordering on money laundering, according to the agency.
Count one of the charge reads: “That you, Godslove Munachiso Obiwuru ‘M’ sometime in 2022 within the jurisdiction of this Honourable Court, retained 0.042 Ethereum (digital currency) equivalent to $50 (Fifty United States Dollars) in a Binance wallet account with the address 0xD62C9DA42BDe76a7Be113ABA225456C57320A569 which you know or reasonably ought to know, is a proceed of an unlawful act and thereby committed an offence punishable under Section 20 (a) of the Money Laundering (Prevention and Prohibition) Act, 2022”.
He pleaded “not guilty” to the two counts. In view of his plea, counsel to the EFCC, Assistant Superintendent of the EFCC, ASE I A.Y Abdullahi prayed the court for a trial date and for the defendant to be remanded at the Correctional facility.
However, the defence counsel, Abel Anih, prayed the court for a short date to enable him to file an application for bail before the court.
The matter was thereafter adjourned for hearing of bail application while the defendant was remanded at the EFCC custody.
The defendant was said to have been arrested on August 5, 2025, following a petition by the FBI alleging that the defendant was involved in auctioning a cryptocurrency account takeover scheme.
According to the petition, in November 2022, a Coinbase cryptocurrency belonging to a citizen of the United States of America was compromised, leading to the theft of 90,410.126 Gold Retriever Tokens (GLDN), worth approximately $307,394.00, at that time.
Further investigation by the FBI revealed that part of the stolen cryptocurrency funds was transferred to a Binance account belonging to the defendant.
However, preliminary investigations by operatives of the Special Task Force of the Enugu Zonal Directorate of the Commission revealed that the defendant received cryptocurrency allegedly stolen from two different victims.
