Home Of Scamsters   

Published on July 21, 2010 by TheNEWS   ·   No Comments

Festac Town in Lagos is reputed to accommodate the highest concentration of internet fraudsters.

Situated in the heart of Amuwo Odofin Local Government Area of Lagos State, Festac Town ranks among the most organised estates in Lagos. Different parts of the estate are clearly demarcated by roads, avenues, crescents and closes. Along this delineation lies ornamental trees and well-cultured flowers, giving the estate a beautiful outlook.

It is generally agreed that one can live his entire life in Festac Town without stepping out of the estate. Festac Town has its own churches, shopping malls, event centres, gardens, mosques, schools, markets, cinemas, parks, hotels, post office, restaurants, stadiums and even government secretariats.

Apart from its ambience, Festac Town is known to have produced some of Nigeria’s most talented entertainers. They include Tuface Idibia, Black Face, Faze, GT the Guitarman, Empress Njamah, Da Natives and Bob-Manuel Udokwu among others.

But the estate is equally known to harbour some of the country’s most talented fraudsters or Yahoo boys. Like the superstar entertainers, the Yahoo boys are easily identified by their ostentatious lifestyles. They drive flashy cars, wear expensive clothes and jewelry, live in posh apartments and hop from a night club to another.

Kunle Shittu is one of them. Popularly known as Jay Papa, Shittu has a room in his apartment that is equipped with computers, scanners, photocopiers and other gadgets used in internet scams. The room is accessed only by those who belong in his clique.

Shittu and his friends spend the entire night surfing the internet, apparently hunting for magas. At the break of dawn, when others are getting ready for work, they go to sleep. Once it is 7p.m., they are up again. They have their bath, get dressed and jump into any of Shittu’s cars. Their first destination is Heavens, a hotel and drinking bar that has women milling around for willing patrons.

Several meters before Heavens, the music blaring out of Shittu’s car is heard. His women hear him coming and immediately begin to move towards the car. As he parks and comes out of his car, he is swarmed by the women. They all struggle to touch him. They then move into the bar, where two tables have been reserved for Shittu. Shouts of Jay Papa rent the air, and he does not disappoint his praise-singers. He doles out cash to every one of them.

Thereafter, he settles down to make his order. His tables are usually filled with friends and hangers on, and littered with bottles of beer. At Heavens, a plate of fresh fish pepper soup sells for N2,500. Still, Shittu buys not less than a dozen plates every night. He is the cynosure of all eyes, as the bar tenders fall over one another in an attempt to please him.

Shittu enjoys basking in such euphoria. He is also lousy. When intoxicated, he openly boasts of his exploits, announcing his latest successful scam. At times, especially when he has just been paid, he requests for a personal number, particularly Gongo Aso, by 9ice. The song appears to lift his spirit as he dances carelessly to it, and singing along.

After spending several hours at the Heavens, Shittu and his friends pick some of the women and head for The Jamz Base, a nightclub along the Festac link bridge. At the Jamz Base, he meets other known cyber criminals who share their success story with him. In some cases, Shittu and his cohorts interchange magas they find difficult to swindle.

Once it is mid-night, he retires back to his apartment, have a nap and return to his laptop. Shittu is a typical example of the kind of youth that now dominate Festac Town. Most of them are unemployed, yet they are responsible for their family’s upkeep. Their activities became so notorious many years back that law enforcement agents, including the Economic and Financial Crimes Commission, EFCC and the police, listed Festac Town as the den of cyber criminals.

Subsequently, some of them were arrested and prosecuted. But, rather than be deterred, the Yahoo boys found their ways around the law enforcement agents, offering them tips in some cases. It is no longer common to find policemen stopping and searching commercial motorcycle passengers or raiding cyber cafes, as many scammers now have their own private internet facilities.

This magazine even gathered that some policemen are on the pay roll of these scammers, and they offer protection from prosecution in return. It is for this reason, TheNEWS learnt, that cyber scammers feel safe dwelling in Festac Town. Besides, advancement in technology has made it easier for them to hide.

Festac Town was built in 1977, when Nigeria hosted the Second World African Festival of Arts and Culture. Sequel to the festival, the federal government sold the properties off to new residents, after a keenly contested raffle. Now a typical Lagos neighbourhood, it is plagued by eroding infrastructure, cyber cafes, corrupt cops and cyber criminals.

—Olusola Olaosebikan

Tags:  Empress Njamah, fraudsters, internet, Scam, Yahoo, Yahoo boys