Operatives of the Lagos Command of the Economic and Financial Crimes Commission (EFCC) have arrested two suspected internet fraudsters at the residence of Nigerian singer, John Njeng Njeng, popularly known as Skales.
The suspects were nabbed at the singer’s Victoria Crest 4, Lagos home. In an official statement released on X (formerly Twitter), on Tuesday, the crime-fighting agency disclosed the information on the arrest.
“The suspects, Udemba Chukwuemeka (a.k.a Jody) and Jamal Onasola (a.k.a. Jamal) were arrested at the residence of a musician, John Njeng Njeng (a.k.a Skales).”
“The two suspects, 8 suspected of being involved in a dating scam, described Njeng as their “mentor.” While Chukwuemeka has been in Njeng’s residence for two years, Onasola has only stayed there for a few months,” the statement read in part.
Skales’ allegations
Before the anti-graft agency released a statement, Skales called them out for allegedly breaking into his house and oppressing his family. Skales claimed that the EFCC operatives broke in heavily armed and wrongly accused him of being a fraudster.
In a series of tweets on his official X page on Tuesday, Skales narrated the incident, which allegedly happened at 4 a.m.
He wrote, “so @officialEFCC pulled up to my house with three men with guns and some with sticks and hammers. Lol, they broke my back door while I was sleeping on the bed with my six-month-old daughter. Imagine I had a panic attack because of my health issues. Is this not a crime?”
“God, go punish una @officialEFCC. I am not a criminal; I have never done fraud. You came in with guns to oppress me in front of my daughter, her mother, and my staff. You will never prosper in anything you do as long as you’re efcc staff! You will always be a failure.”
The singer noted that the EFCC operatives said they got intel that he was into fraud and claimed they were on a routine check. However, Skales disclosed that in the search of his apartment, the crime-fighting operatives found nothing.
“I don’t even believe in the justice system of Nigeria because it’s all lies. Who do you want to report to for Nigeria? They are all the same, and they are together,” he complained.
He further alleged that his producer was hit with a stick on his leg amid the scuffle with the operatives.
Confirmation
Skales manager, Kolatunz, told PREMIUM TIMES that the EFCC operatives invaded the house at 4 a.m., as Skales alleged.
He disclosed that even though they found nothing, they made two arrests during the raid.
“They arrested the producer’s boy and an artiste, but they didn’t find anything. They said the artiste has two Facebook accounts, which is typical for every artiste. They are claiming they didn’t come for the arrest, but the neighbours have videos.”
Kolatunz also confirmed that one of the operatives threatened to implicate him if he (Skales) did not stop calling them out.
When asked about the actions taken regarding those arrested, he said, “We’ve called our lawyer to step into action. However, we can only vouch for Skales’ artiste. We don’t know the producer’s boy.”
Threats
A few hours after his series of posts, the singer cried out that he was being threatened for speaking up. He identified one of the EFCC operatives who called him and threatened to deal with him for his posts.
He claimed, “I was just threatened for speaking out now. Now, one of them, whose name is Femi, called me, threatening that he could rope me into something because of my outburst on social media.
“An outburst caused by the unprofessional manner in which they gained entry into my home at 4 a.m., while I had my six-month-old child and her mum sleeping.”
This is a video my neighbors recorded pic.twitter.com/iaC55OJMYW
— SKALES (@youngskales) October 10, 2023
Skales also disclosed that they destroyed his back door when they allegedly broke into his house.
“How do you threaten to rope an innocent person into something he did not do? Is that not illegal?”
The singer threatened to involve his lawyer, considering the threats he was getting, and to take legal action.
To prove his claims, Skales shared videos on his page as evidence.
These are videos of same thing my neighbors experienced pic.twitter.com/jxisp1LSZt
— SKALES (@youngskales) October 10, 2023