Eight Nigerian nationals have been arrested by the police for allegedly subjecting a 21-year-old compatriot to a severe beating as part of his initiation into an internet fraud operation at Kotokrom, a suburb of the Sunyani West Municipality in the Bono Region, Ghana.
The suspects reportedly told investigators that the assault on Godstime Umukoro was part of the initiation process they had also undergone before joining the internet fraud business.
According to a statement issued by the Bono Regional Police Command on October 9, 2026, the suspects were arrested by the Regional Operations Unit after officers responded to a distress call on October 4. The police said the patrol team received the call at about 4:30 p.m. that a group of people were attacking a man at Kotokrom.
Officers rushed to the scene and found Umukoro with multiple marks of assault on his body. The eight suspects were arrested at the scene. They have been identified as Peter Mbam, 24; Godwin Moses, 26; Humble Oweifah, 18; Osas Ogbemudia, 30; Samuel Aisosa, 22; Ashile Godbess, 24; Alexander Uyuo, 30; and Patrick Romans, 25. Preliminary investigations, according to the police, have also uncovered details of an alleged internet fraud operation involving the suspects and a man identified as Nwachukwu King Augustine, described as their chairman.
The police said the suspects were brought to Ghana by Augustine and allegedly used downloaded photographs of foreign military personnel to deceive unsuspecting victims online. They reportedly posed as military personnel stationed at the war front in Yemen and engaged their targets in conversations under that pretense before collecting money from them.
The money obtained from the alleged victims was subsequently paid into the account of their purported boss, the police said. The Bono Regional Police Command has commended members of the public for their swift intervention and assured residents of its continued collaboration with the public to combat crime in the region. The police have not indicated whether the eight suspects have been formally charged in court.
