Youth Nabbed in US

A few weeks ago, the Greater Accra Regional Minister, Sheikh I.C. Quaye's instincts propelled him to organize some 300 or so youth of his constituency for a social interaction at his residence with a view to admonishing them against various issues likely to impact negatively on their future.

The young men and women came from parts of the Central Ayawaso constituency as Lagos Town, Kokomlemle, Alajo and Kotobabi.

Most of the young men who had assembled at his official residence had one dream: to migrate to the US in search of greener pastures.

Against the recent spate of computer fraud which is more pronounced in densely populated places like Nima, Lagos Town, Alajo and others, the minister asked them to keep off the nefarious deals as it could land them in serious trouble with the law.

The Sheikh even told them that should anyone of them fall foul of the law he or she would face the music without any intervention from him since according to him, the NPP government does not condone lawlessness.

Little did the minister know at the time that a close relation of his, a nephew, who even though was not part of those who had assembled to listen to his words of wisdom, was going to come face to face with the justice system in the US.

Nafisu Mohammed, the minister's nephew according to a family source had traveled to the US without even informing his close relations like his uncle and so the news came as a surprise to him and this he corroborated when we managed to get to him.

When the ADM got wind of the news and called on him in his office he said: " Nafisu is an adult who runs his own business in Alajo and so he should face the music independently. After all he has always sponsored himself on such trips as a businessman which he is.

For those who expect me to wade into this matter let them know that our government is set to change the face of doing things and would therefore not be part of anything untoward and likely to dent the image of our party. It is unfortunate that he has landed himself in this mess. Remember the government and party are supreme."

The young man, who is an independent businessman without any linkage to the minister and runs his own company in Accra, had traveled to the US for a third visit according to an ADM investigation when he landed into the current mess.

On his arrival he is said to have put up with some youth from one of Accra's Zongos in Boston, Massachusetts where perhaps his knowledge of computers as a systems analyst was employed by his hosts and this finally landed them in trouble.

US law frowns vehemently upon computer frauds as a result of which FBI agents have been prowling for any suspicious moves in that direction for sometime now.

Our usually impeccable source in the US has it that the raid which roped in the Ghanaian youth of which the minister's nephew was a part, is part of a massive onslaught on such fraudsters.

The ADM a few months ago did a report about the many fraudulent Internet café deals in Accra especially in Nima and Maamobi.

The youth in these areas are able to surprisingly, lay hands on credit card numbers of unknown persons and with these order various items on the internet.

These activities have gone on for sometime now and it is believed it was introduced by Nigerian 419 fraudsters who have found a conducive haven in Ghana.

A visit to many of the Internet cafes which now dot the country especially Accra would certainly show some of these fraudsters at work. Their ages can be as low as twelve and thirteen and it is surprising how they are able to make such internet contacts and to even trick foreign online companies for certain items like mobile phones and so on.

Some of them can even be found in these cafes during school hours chatting on the Microsoft free facility. It would be recalled that Microsoft announced recently that it was going to discontinue the free chat sessions which according to them is encouraging immoralities.