THE Nigeria Police Force (NPF) has disclosed that its Cybercrime Unit, acting on a petition by one Mrs. Oluseye Oladejo, has arrested three persons in connection with a case of cyberstalking and threat to life against operators of popular blog, Gistlover.
Force spokesperson, Mr. Olumuyiwa Adejobi, in a statement on Friday, January 5, said the suspects-Adebukola Kolapo, Nnedum Michael Somtomchukwu and Isaac Akpokighe, all males, of ages 27, 25 and 30, respectively- are members of a syndicate called Gistlover family, responsible for the daily running of the Gistlover blog, a micro-blogging platform, which he alleged is known for cyberstalking, incitement, blackmail and sundry, and has over the years been a course for public outcry, especially from celebrities.
Adejobi stated that upon interrogation, the three suspects denied working for Gistlover, but one of them said he created a fake Gistlover page to gain followers on his social media page.
According to the statement: “Upon arrest, the suspects revealed their various degrees of involvement in the conspiracy, corroborating the already available overwhelming pieces of evidence.
“The first suspect, Adebukola Kolapo, a.k.a Omo oba Gistlover, was responsible for the creation of over 80 per cent of the Gistlover pages, thereby lending his digital footprint for the perpetration of the aforementioned criminal act.
“Being on the payroll of the said platform and having enjoyed incentives, like car gifts and monies, Adebukola was saddled with the responsibility of scouting, editing and captioning content, including the cyberstalking post made against the complainant, Mrs. Oladejo.
“Adebukola has also contributed to laundering monies obtained from the illegal scheme through various means.
“In more developments, digital forensic analysis led to the recovery of eight (8) Gistlover pages created on the instruction of the head of the syndicate by Adebukola, and wallet addresses used in laundering these monies.”
He added: “The second suspect, Nnedum Somtochukwu, also shared in the conspiracy, wherein at every point the page was taken down for certain infractions and violation of policies at the instance of reports from law enforcement agencies, the suspect, using his platform, will by all means redirect traffic to the new page, helping the blog to evade sanctions.
“Enjoying incentives, like referrals for promotions from the head of the syndicate, Nnedum has also been found sharing content, feedback and making defamatory remarks with the said head of the syndicate.
“The third suspect, Isaac Akpokighe, a 30-year- old male resident of Igando in Lagos State, unlike the duo above, is like hundreds of Nigerians who having observed the lucrative nature of the blackmailing, cyberstalking and false information market, decide to imitate the Gistlover blog.
“By so doing, he created several such pages and mirrors the activities of the blog, including reposting the defamatory and life-threatening posts against the complainant and many other notable Nigerians. Digital forensics led to the recovery of four Gistlover pages created by Akpokighe.”
Adejobi said the suspects would be charged to court upon the conclusion of the investigation.
The arrest of the suspects has caused controversy across social media platforms, as the blog has been a thorn in the flesh of many popular Nigerians, especially celebrities.
