- * EFCC arrests Edo ‘spiritualist’ accused of using a nude video to extort $1,100 from Indian woman
An alleged spiritual intervention in Edo State has ended with a cybercrime investigation, after the Economic and Financial Crimes Commission (EFCC) arrested a self-acclaimed spiritualist accused of recording a woman during a purported healing ritual and later using the footage to blackmail her for money.
The suspect, identified as Odigie Moses, was arrested in Ekpoma, Edo State, after allegedly demanding $1,100 — about N1.5 million — from an Indian woman whom he had reportedly met online and convinced that he possessed spiritual powers capable of helping her overcome what she believed were life-threatening challenges.
According to the EFCC, Moses allegedly persuaded the woman to participate in a naked spiritual bath, which he recorded live without her permission. The recording, the commission said, subsequently became the weapon with which he allegedly threatened to expose her.
The woman eventually paid $1,100 to prevent the material from being released before the suspect was arrested.
The EFCC said Moses would be charged to court after investigations are concluded.
The case, however, points to something considerably larger than the alleged conduct of one self-acclaimed spiritualist.
It illustrates how Nigeria’s fraud economy is continually adapting, moving into the most intimate areas of human vulnerability — love, loneliness, sexuality, faith, financial desperation and the search for opportunity — and turning trust itself into a commodity.
When romance becomes a business model
For years, romance scams have represented one of the most recognisable forms of internet fraud associated with Nigeria. The basic formula is deceptively simple: establish an emotional connection, cultivate trust, create a crisis and eventually ask for money.
But the model has become increasingly sophisticated.
The EFCC itself describes romance and dating scams as a major form of cybercrime, warning that fraudsters exploit people searching for companionship by constructing false identities and relationships online.
In December 2024, the scale of one operation exposed in Lagos demonstrated just how organised the business has become. The EFCC arrested 792 suspects in what investigators described as a cryptocurrency investment and romance-fraud network. The operation involved Nigerians and foreign nationals, with investigators alleging that Nigerian recruits were trained to establish romantic relationships with foreign targets before victims were steered towards fraudulent investment platforms.
The case challenged the simplistic picture of the lone “Yahoo boy” operating from a bedroom.
Investigators instead uncovered something closer to an industry: computers, multiple SIM cards, foreign telephone identities, scripts, recruitment and training, with different participants apparently performing different roles in the fraud chain.
That evolution matters because the scam no longer necessarily begins with a request for money.
It can begin with affection.
It can begin with friendship.
It can begin with a job offer.
It can begin with an investment opportunity.
Or, as the Ekpoma case suggests, it can begin with a promise of spiritual help.
The scammer does not always sell love
The most striking feature of the Edo case is the change in the commodity being sold.
The suspect allegedly did not approach his victim with a conventional romance story. He allegedly offered spiritual intervention.
The woman was said to be facing serious personal difficulties and sought help from someone she believed possessed spiritual healing powers.
The alleged fraud then moved through three stages: belief, vulnerability and leverage.
First came the promise of spiritual assistance. Then came the intimate ritual, during which the victim was allegedly recorded without her knowledge. Finally came the threat.
The alleged nude recording transformed the relationship completely.
What had begun as an appeal to faith allegedly became a mechanism of financial coercion.
That is the essential logic of sextortion: obtain or manufacture intimate material and then use the victim’s fear of exposure to extract money or compliance.
INTERPOL has warned that digital sextortion is increasing across Africa, with sexually explicit images being obtained voluntarily, through deception or coercion, and in some cases generated or manipulated using artificial intelligence. Its 2025 Operation Contender 3.0 resulted in 260 arrests across 14 African countries in cases involving romance scams and sextortion.
Sextortion is no longer a side street of cybercrime
The danger is that sextortion is often treated as a particularly sordid branch of internet fraud rather than as part of a rapidly expanding digital criminal economy.
It is not. It is social engineering with sexuality as the weapon.
A fraudster does not necessarily need sophisticated hacking skills if he can persuade a victim to provide the material voluntarily — or persuade the victim to enter a situation in which the material can be secretly obtained.
Once acquired, the image or video becomes leverage.
The threat of exposure can be more powerful than the material itself because victims may fear humiliation, the loss of a marriage, damage to their careers, religious or family consequences, or public disgrace.
This is particularly significant in societies where sexual reputation can carry enormous social consequences.
And the victims are not confined to one demographic.
They can be young people, professionals, married people, religious leaders, business executives or individuals simply looking for companionship or help.
The FBI has described sextortion as a growing threat and has highlighted an earlier Nigeria-based operation that resulted in the arrest of 22 Nigerian subjects in a multinational investigation.
The scam economy is spreading across sectors
Romance is only one doorway. Investment is another.
In Nigeria, authorities have repeatedly uncovered schemes combining romantic manipulation with fraudulent cryptocurrency investments. The 2024 Lagos operation was a particularly stark example, with investigators alleging that victims were first cultivated through romantic conversations before being encouraged to invest in fictitious platforms.
Employment is another growing vulnerability.
In January 2025, the EFCC arrested 105 suspects in Abuja over an alleged online fraud scheme involving fake hotel-review jobs targeting victims in Europe and elsewhere.
Business is another.
Impersonation, phishing, fraudulent invoices and business-email compromise allow criminals to enter relationships that appear entirely professional before money is redirected.
And increasingly, the criminal economy is exploiting celebrity identity, social status and institutional credibility.
INTERPOL has identified romance baiting, investment and cryptocurrency fraud and celebrity impersonation among common tactics uncovered during Nigerian operations.
The result is a disturbing transformation. The old fraudster needed a convincing story.
The modern fraudster needs a convincing identity.
Faith can become another attack surface
The Edo case also raises a particularly uncomfortable question for Nigeria: what happens when spiritual belief itself becomes an attack surface for organised fraud?
Religion and spirituality occupy an enormous place in Nigerian social life. Millions of people routinely seek prayer, counselling, healing and spiritual intervention for problems ranging from illness to marital difficulties, financial hardship and family disputes.
That creates an obvious opportunity for anyone prepared to impersonate a spiritual authority.
The alleged conduct in Ekpoma is therefore significant not because it proves that spiritualists are involved in cybercrime — it does not — but because it demonstrates how a fraudster can potentially combine online anonymity with traditional beliefs and digital technology.
The internet provides the introduction.
Faith provides credibility.
The camera provides the evidence.
And fear provides the leverage.
That combination can be devastating.
From 419 to an economy of manipulation
Nigeria’s old 419 stereotype was built around the advance-fee fraud: a stranger promised an inheritance, government contract, business deal or other financial windfall and demanded an upfront payment.
The new fraud economy is more psychologically sophisticated.
The victim may not be promised money.
The victim may be promised love.
Or healing.
Or employment.
Or investment returns.
Or access to an influential person.
Or a solution to a private problem.
The common denominator is not the story.
It is the manipulation of trust.
Research into online romance fraud has similarly identified the construction of emotional relationships as a central mechanism through which victims are manipulated and defrauded.
That is why describing all these crimes simply as “internet fraud” can obscure what is actually happening.
The technology is only the delivery system.
The real weapon is human psychology.
The question for Nigeria
The arrest of Moses will now move into the criminal justice system, where the allegations against him will have to be tested in court.
But the larger problem will remain.
How many victims never report sextortion because they are ashamed?
How many pay because they fear their families discovering the material?
How many continue paying because the blackmailer threatens to release more?
How many victims of romance fraud refuse to believe that the person they trusted never existed?
And how many people seeking spiritual, medical, financial or professional assistance are being approached by individuals whose real objective is to obtain money, information or compromising material?
These questions are becoming increasingly important as technology makes deception cheaper and more scalable.
INTERPOL’s recent findings suggest that African cybercrime is becoming more organised and that digital sextortion is increasing across the continent.
Nigeria’s response therefore cannot be limited to arresting suspects after victims have lost money or been blackmailed.
It must also confront the infrastructure that allows these schemes to flourish: anonymous accounts, disposable SIM cards, fraudulent identities, payment channels, organised scam centres, recruitment networks and platforms that can be repeatedly abused.
The challenge is no longer simply to catch the person holding the phone.
It is to dismantle the ecosystem behind the phone.
The alleged Ekpoma spiritualist may face prosecution if the evidence supports the charges. But his case also offers a wider warning.
In the digital age, a scammer does not need to know what you own before targeting you.
He may first need to discover what you believe, whom you love, what you fear or what you desperately need. And once he finds it, that may become the price of your silence.
