The police in Rivers State have arrested a 38-year-old man, Belema Ibama, who allegedly lured women through online dating platforms and s3xually abused them.
Ibama, a father of four girls, reportedly posed as “Mr. Anderson,” a British engineer working on an offshore oil rig, to lure his victims to hotels where he would drug, rape, and rob them.
The suspect’s arrest came after over 20 women filed reports with the police, accusing a man using the alias “Engineer Anderson” of sexual assault after inviting them on dates. According to police investigations, Ibama had been engaging in this criminal activity since 2019 and had previously been remanded in prison for six months in 2021, only to be discharged due to a lack of witnesses.
Further investigations revealed that Ibama had been arrested by the Delta State Police Command in 2020 on similar charges but had jumped bail and fled to Port Harcourt. After returning from prison in 2022, he resumed his life of crime in November 2023, allegedly targeting more than 20 women before his arrest in May 2024.
One of his victims recounted how she met Ibama on the dating app Tinder, and during their first in-person meeting at a hotel in Port Harcourt, he drugged her drink, causing her to lose consciousness. She later woke up to find that her valuables, including an iPhone and cash, had been stolen. This led her to report the matter to the police, which set off the investigation that ultimately led to Ibama’s arrest.
At the time of his arrest, police found pills suspected to be Tramadol and Rohypnol, along with 15 mobile phones, four women’s watches, and two handbags, believed to belong to his victims.
Ibama confessed to using dating apps like Bumble and Tinder to target his victims under aliases such as “Engineer Val Anderson” or “Mr. Anderson.”
Ibama also revealed his tactic for obtaining victims’ ATM pins, explaining that he would ask them to pay for food or drinks with their cards while he secretly memorized their pin numbers. Once they were unconscious, he would assault them and use their ATM cards to withdraw money.
The suspect also admitted to selling stolen items at mobile phone stores. He is currently in police custody, and further investigations are ongoing.
