On Tuesday last week, a Lagos Mobile Court sitting in Bolade, Oshodi, convicted a 37-year-old man, Jeriq Enejo, and sentenced him to two years and six months’ imprisonment for luring a woman (name withheld), whom he met on Facebook, to a hotel in Oshodi. He fraudulently stole her iPhone XS Max valued at ₦350,000 before abandoning her at the hotel.
Enejo represents a disturbing breed of criminals who populate social media platforms around the clock, targeting unsuspecting women searching for friendship or genuine relationships. Unknown to their victims, these predators disguise themselves as caring companions while carefully laying traps for unsuspecting prey.
The truth is that evil is rarely written on a person’s face. Many victims have fallen into similar schemes after agreeing to meet men they first encountered online. Some have been lured to busy restaurants, hotels, or other public places, only to be manipulated into surrendering their phones or having their bags and other valuables stolen before the perpetrators disappeared without a trace.
Social media remains a powerful tool that has created countless opportunities for millions of people. Yet, it has also become a hunting ground for fraudsters and criminals who exploit trust for personal gain. It is a space occupied by the good, the bad, and the ugly, making caution an indispensable virtue for every user.
For Enejo, however, the law eventually caught up with him. Through painstaking investigation, police officers followed the clues he left behind and arrested him barely two weeks after committing the crime. During interrogation, he admitted that the complainant was indeed his second victim, although it is difficult to believe him. To every criminal, it is always the first or second attempt.
Ironically, the iPhone XS Max worth ₦350,000 was sold for a mere ₦45,000, a reminder that criminals often exchange valuable futures for insignificant gains. As the saying goes, thieves ultimately gain nothing.
The case also reinforces a message often echoed by the Inspector-General of Police, Olatunji Rilwan Disu: before committing a crime, think deeply about the consequences. No criminal escapes justice forever; it is only a matter of time.
