A 35-year-old man, Emeka Nwogu, experienced a horrifying Valentine’s Day when his 25-year-old girlfriend, along with her younger brother and a group of cultists, ambushed and robbed him of N15.5 million, in addition to his personal items, including three mobile phones.
The incident, which seemed straight out of a Nollywood script, took place in the Ago Palace area of Lagos after the couple spent Valentine’s Day in a hotel.
The next day, they decided to dine out, unaware that the woman had other plans with her brother and his cult gang.
According to police sources, while they were enjoying a meal at a restaurant, the girlfriend insisted that they return to the hotel so she could use the restroom.
Though Emeka had some concerns when they passed the bus stop leading to the hotel, his girlfriend reassured him.
However, once they got off at a different bus stop, armed attackers pounced on them, dragging them to a secluded spot in an estate.
There, they beat and tortured Emeka with guns and axes, demanding access to his Bitcoin, Binance, and Trust accounts.
After forcing him to reveal his passwords, the assailants made off with about $9,700 in addition to his phones and other valuables.
After the attack, the man and his girlfriend went to the Ago Palace police station to file a report.
However, their story took a turn when one of the security guards at the scene of the crime revealed that the woman had been seen regularly with one of the attackers.
This led to the girlfriend’s arrest, during which she admitted that her younger brother and his cultist friends were behind the assault.
The girlfriend explained that she had orchestrated the robbery after discovering intimate messages between Emeka and other women on his WhatsApp, leading her to seek revenge by involving her brother and his gang.
The case was then handed over to the Commissioner of Police Special Squad 1, which traced her home. However, her younger brother had already fled.
In a further twist, the woman’s father reportedly promised to return the stolen items, but he only managed to return N3 million out of the N5 million that was meant to be his daughter’s share.
Investigations led to the arrest of four other gang members who confessed to being part of the Aiye confraternity, a notorious cult group.
The suspects, identified as Ogbuka Tochukwu, 22; John Wisdom, 25; Odora Michael, 24; and Babatunde Ibrahim, 20, were apprehended, and police recovered a locally made gun, cartridges, a battle axe, and N7.5 million in cash.
The victim, still traumatized by the betrayal, shared his experience with reporters, expressing his shock over the fact that his girlfriend of four years had masterminded the attack.
“I spent a wonderful Valentine’s night with her, but the next day, while we were enjoying ourselves at a lounge, she repeatedly stepped out to answer phone calls. I had no idea she was planning this attack. I’m grateful to the CP squad for their swift response,” he said.
The same squad had previously gained attention for eliminating a notorious kidnapping gang that had been terrorizing Lagos and its surrounding areas, including the famous Ladipo market.