Kidnapped for cash after dating lure

A 21-YEAR-OLD man who was lured to a blind date by a woman he met on social media, ended up locked in a flat, with his captors asking for ransom money from his family.

Sunnyside police spokesperson Captain Daniel Mavimbela said the man was the victim of what appeared to be a syndicate.

This week, police arrested the woman’s accomplice, Clement Oghonim, 27, who faces charges of kidnapping. Mavimbela said Oghonim contacted the victim’s brother and demanded ransom money.

“But the victim’s brother reported the matter to the Sunnyside police instead,” he said.

Oghonim was arrested in a sting operation and appeared in court yesterday.

Mavimbela said they were investigating the Sunnyside case. “It appears to be the work of a syndicate… members of the public must be cautious of online dating sites,” he added.

He urged members of the public to be comfortable when opting to report cases like these to the police. Social media luring scams were real, he said.

“Members of the public must not fear reporting social media-luring scams as we are their protectors. We are here for them,” Mavimbela said.

He appealed to members of the public to beware of online dating sites and, when meeting blind dates, they should always be around public places.

A few similar cases had been reported to the Sunnyside police this year about men being lured on social media under the impression of a blind date, only to be robbed and kidnapped at what the police officer said were government flats.

In a similar fashion, social media was widely being used as a tool to lure victims and, in one highly publicised matter, 24-year-old Princess Mahlangu from Bloemfontein was rescued from a suspected sex-trafficking enterprise in Malaysia.

She was lured through social media, under the false impression that she would take part in a modelling competition.

Police Minister Fikile Mbalula spoke of what he termed a worrying trend of trafficking and warned especially women to be cautious as they were vulnerable to sex trafficking.

“The issue of human trafficking is extremely serious and our young women, in particular, are the most vulnerable group to sex traffickers, who later harvest human organs from them for trade in illicit organ transplant markets,” the minister said.

Mbalula said Facebook and the internet played a key role in Mahlangu being lured to Malaysia.