German police said Wednesday they had arrested 11 suspected members of a Nigerian mafia group behind a large-scale dating scam.

The Black Axe gang was involved internationally in “multiple areas of criminal activity”, with a focus in Germany on romance scams and money-laundering, Bavarian police said in a statement.

The dating trick was a “modern form of marriage fraud”, police said.

“Using false identities, the fraudsters for example signalled their intention to marry and in the course of further contact repeatedly demand money under various pretexts,” police said.

The money was subsequently transferred to Black Axe in Nigeria “via financial agents”, authorities said.

In the process, the gang used a “commodity-based money laundering” scheme where products, often with a seeming “charitable purpose” were bought and delivered to Nigeria.

Some 450 cases of romance scamming had been reported in the region of Bavaria in 2023 alone, with the damages rising to 5.3 million euros ($5.7 million), police said.

The suspects, who all held Nigerian citizenship and were aged between 29 and 53, were arrested in nationwide raids on Tuesday.

Law enforcement swooped on 19 properties, including both homes and asylum shelters, police said.

The Black Axe gang had “strict hierarchical structures under leadership in Nigeria” operating different territorial units, police said.

The group had a “significant influence” on politics and public administrations, in particular in Nigeria.

Globally, the gang’s main areas of operation were “human-trafficking, fraud, money-laundering, prostitution and drug-trafficking”.

Black Axe operated under the cover of the Neo Black Movement of Africa, an ostensibly charitable organisation used as “camouflage” for the gang’s structures.

The action against Black Axe was the first of its kind in Germany, police said.

AFP

The Economic and Financial Crimes Commission (EFCC) has filed a fresh charge against Godwin Emefiele, former governor of the Central Bank of Nigeria (CBN).

In the four-count charge, the anti-graft agency accused Emefiele of approving the printing of N684,590,000 notes at the rate of N18.96 billion.

EFCC alleged that Emefiele broke the law with intent to harm the public during his implementation of the naira swap policy under the administration of former President Muhammadu Buhari.

The agency also accused the former CBN governor of unlawfully approving the withdrawal of N124.8 billion from the consolidated revenue fund of the federation.

Emefiele will be arraigned on these counts before Maryann Anenih, judge of a federal capital territory (FCT) high court, on April 30.

This would be the third criminal case pending against Emefiele.

On November 17, 2023, Emefiele was arraigned before Hamza Muazu, a judge of the federal capital territory (FCT) high court, on a six-count charge of procurement fraud, to which he pleaded not guilty.

One trigger-happy policeman, popularly known as Saheed SARS, allegedly shot a corps member, identified as Iyanda Damilola to death in Ogbomoso Local Government Area of Oyo State on Tuesday.

It was gathered that Saheed is an operative of the Special Anti-Robbery Squad of the Oyo State Police Command.

Saheed is widely recognised by the students of the Ladoke Akintola University of Technology, Ogbomoso for assaults, most especially “Yahoo boys”.

In 2020, he was heavily criticised on social media platforms after he reportedly posed with a white Mercedez Benz car he claimed to have bought.

The deceased’s brother, Iyanda Oluwafemi, a graduate of LAUTECH, said he sustained wounds from bullets shot by Saheed.

Oluwafemi, a graduate of Accounting and Management Sciences from the institution, said the deceased was his brother and that he had attended his convocation, after which they headed for an after-party the same day where he was shot dead by the trigger-happy cop.

According to him, the late Damilola was serving in Ibadan, the Oyo State capital.

He said, “Yesterday was our convocation, and we were at a lounge (name withheld) for a convocation party around 2am when we heard that some people were fighting outside. When we discovered that the place was getting rowdy, we stepped out only to see policemen dispersing the crowd and shooting directly at the people.

“I sustained bullet wounds, but my brother, who came for my convocation, was shot in the head. He was confirmed dead at the LAUTECH Teaching Hospital and was taken to the mortuary this morning.

“As I speak with you, I am at the clinic for my treatment. The wounds are deep, and I can not but seek justice for my innocent brother.”

Asked if he could recognise the policemen who came for the operation, Oluwafemi said he was sure of Saheed SARS because he led them to the place to disperse the crowd.

“I saw him handling the gun; he was shooting with one hand until he shot my brother,” he added.

The state Police Public Relations Officer, SP Adewale Osifeso, said an investigation was ongoing on the matter and that updates would be provided accordingly.

“Investigation is ongoing. Updates would be provided accordingly, please,” he wrote in a text message.