Retired American woman is rescued after being held hostage in Nigeria hotel room for more than A YEAR by man, 34, who lured her with promise of fake marriage before extorting her for $48,000 and sexually assaulting her
- An American woman who was lured to Nigeria by a man she met on Facebook has been rescued after spending more than a year in captivity
- Chukwuebuka Obiaku, 34, had persuaded the woman to come to Nigeria ‘under the pretext of love and deceitfully married’
- But he then held her captive in a hotel and extorted $48,000 from her
- ‘He also forcefully collected and took control of her credit and debit cards as well as the operation of her bank accounts, ‘ police said
- The stolen funds included her monthly retirement benefits and allowances over the period of 15 months
- The victim, a retired civil servant in the US, was rescued by a Police Intelligence Response Team following information received from some Nigerians
An American woman who was lured to Nigeria by a man she met on Facebook has been rescued after spending more than a year in captivity, authorities said.
Chukwuebuka Kasi Obiaku, 34, persuaded the retired civil servant to go to Nigeria ‘under the pretext of love’ but when she arrived from Washington DC on February 13, 2019, she was held hostage.
The suspect who sexually abused her, ‘deceitfully married her on May 15, 2019, and extorted $48,000 from her while she was was held in a Lagos hotel.
Chukwuebuka Obiaku, 34, persuaded the woman to come to Nigeria ‘under the pretext of love’ They ‘deceitfully married’ and she was sexually abused in Lagos while he extorted $48,000
‘He also forcefully collected and took control of her credit and debit cards as well as the operation of her bank accounts including the receipt of her monthly retirement benefits and allowances over the period of 15 months,’ national police spokesperson Frank Mba announced on Sunday.
The victim, who has not been identified, was rescued by a Police Intelligence Response Team of the Ogun State Annex.
The Nigerian Police Force said the operation was successful following information received from a ‘civic minded’ person.
Obiaku is reported to be a native of Ikeduru Local Government Area of Imo State and a Business Administration and Management graduate.
The American woman who was lured to Nigeria after they met on Facebook (file image). She has been rescued after spending more than a year in captivity
He was described as ‘an internet fraudster who has defrauded many people locally and internationally’.
‘Chukwuebuka also used the victim as a front to defraud her associates and other foreign personalities and companies,’ police said.
Police said Obiaku will be charged at a later date under the Cybercrime Prevention/Prohibition Act, 2015.
The rescue followed what police called a similar case where a Filipino lady was lured to Nigeria by her supposed lover who she too met on Facebook.
She was abducted and held captive for six months before she was rescued.