Rita Odafe
On Sunday, March 12, 2023, the Delhi Police announced the arrest of two Nigerian nationals for allegedly defrauding women by proposing marriage and then taking money under the guise of Customs clearance for expensive gifts. Alex (30) and 45-year-old Ibeh were apprehended after a 24-year-old woman from the President’s Estate, Rashtrapati Bhawan, filed a complaint.
The victim had connected with a man named Aman Arora, who claimed to be a marine engineer based in the UK, on a matrimonial site. After exchanging messages on WhatsApp, Arora sent her a London-Mumbai airline ticket. She then received a call from a woman posing as a “Mumbai airport official” who said Arora had been detained for carrying GBP 40,000 pounds. The woman asked the victim to pay Rs 8,500 as registration fee for valuable articles. The complainant ended up paying Rs 4 lakh in total.
The police tracked down the suspects’ location and conducted a raid in Greater Noida, where Alex was arrested. He confessed that he had come to India on a medical visa in 2020 and started cheating women by proposing marriage and sending expensive gifts with the help of his associates. Ibeh was also arrested in Greater Noida and three ATM cards and Rs 10,500 in cash were seized from his possession.
