A rights group, the Rule of Law and Accountability Advocacy Centre (RULAAC), has commended the effort of the Zone 2 Police Headquarters, Onikan, Lagos, for the breakthrough in tracking and arresting a man named Saidi Shittu accused of cyber bullying, fraud, defamation and blackmail and for promptly charging him to Court.

In a statement on Thursday and signed by its Executive Director, Okechukwu Nwanguma, the group said that from information at its disposal, Shittu resides in Belfast United kingdom but is currently in Lagos, Nigeria and unable to return to his base due to the outbreak of Covid-19 pandemic.

The statement noted that the alleged fraudster has a blog and other social media platforms including Facebook, YouTube and SAVE YOUR SOUL TV which he uses to bully and broadcast malignant and defamatory information about his targets, especially prominent personalities.

“One of his victims is one Alhaji Ahmad Alfulany, Chief Executive Officer (CEO) of Sebilu Nnajat Concept and Alfulany Islamic Real Estate who resides in Lagos.

“A source close to Alhaji Alfulany informed us that the suspected online fraudster 'uses his various social media platforms to mock, abuse, curse, frame false allegations and blackmail elderly and young great scholars’ including Alhaji Alfulany.

“He said Saidi Shittu habitually frames false accusations of fraud and theft against his targets, invades and meddles into their privacy including hacking into their social media accounts such as Facebook.

“He also uses agents who aid him in perpetrating his criminal acts. Their main role is to be calling targets, issuing death threats, and maligning and blackmailing them to do whatever he wants.

“In the case of Alhaji Alfulany, the said Saudi Shittu made a live video on Facebook falsely accusing him and claiming that he had embarked on a fundraising drive for the purpose of building a mosque for an unnamed community and that Alhaji Alfulany, after raising the sum of N22 million through contributions from unstated people, failed to build any mosque.

“Alhaji Alfulany denied this and dismissed it as a patently false and defamatory accusation aimed at running down his reputation and to enable Shittu gain more followership and subscribers on his social media platforms which will translate to more money for him

“In the said video and all over social media, he falsely portrayed Alhaji Alfulany as a fraudster and a thief. He went further to hack into Alhaji Alfulany’s Facebook account and started to post negative comments on his contacts’ accounts making it seem like such comments were by Alhaji Alfulany. This caused Alhaji Alfulany serious reputational damage and trauma leading to his hospitalisation.

“Alhaji Alfulany did not initially understand why Ahmad Shittu decided to target him for social media bullying, and campaign of calumny and blackmail. It was later that he saw another video where someone claimed that Saidi Shittu started the attack on him because Alhaji Alfulany liked a Facebook comment made by someone who is Saidi Shittu's enemy.

“Saidi Shittu, also by himself and through his faceless agents, started calling and issuing death threats to Alhaji Alfulany while also continually bullying, scandalizing and blackmailing him on social media,” the statement said.

Update news