By Nkechi Eze
Operatives of the Economic and Financial Crimes Commission (EFCC) have arrested a suspected football agent, Osagie Destiny Etinosa, over an alleged N11 million fraud linked to false promises of securing football trials abroad.
The arrest was carried out by operatives of the EFCC’s Benin Zonal Directorate following intelligence gathered through open-source investigation.
According to a statement issued by the Head of Media and Publicity of the commission, Dele Oyewale, the suspect had been parading himself on Instagram under the handle @officialking_etto, claiming to be a football agent who specialises in linking aspiring footballers with foreign clubs for trials and recruitment opportunities.
Investigations revealed that in one of the cases, Etinosa allegedly obtained the sum of N11,000,000 from a victim, Samuel Beke Ohazuruike, after promising to arrange football trials for him with clubs in Romania and Bulgaria.
However, the promised trials reportedly never materialised. Attempts by the victim to recover the money from the suspect were unsuccessful, prompting a petition and subsequent investigation by the anti-graft agency.
The EFCC stated that Etinosa was arrested after intelligence gathering linked him to the alleged scheme.
The commission further disclosed that the suspect will be arraigned in court upon the conclusion of investigations.
