Russian embassy for Ghana chook mouth and oda tins to know about 'pick-up artist' wey allegedly film women and share videos online
Wia dis foto come from, PASCAL DELOCHE/GODONG/UNIVERSAL IMAGE VIA GETTY IMAGES
Di Russian embassy for Ghana don react to di trending case wey involve one Russian blogger and 'pick-up artist' wey allegedly film many women and share dia videos online.
For one brief statement wey di Russian embassy for Ghana post on X, dem say dem don "take note" of di allegations wey dey spread for Ghanaian media, but no give detail on weda Moscow go assist wit Ghana request to bring di suspect home to face prosecution. Russia no dey routinely extradite dia citizens, except under exceptional circumstances.
But dem no give assurance of cooperation.
Ghana authorities say dem dey engage wit dia Russia counterparts to make sure di man face justice.
Di man wey enta Ghana record sexual encounters wit plenty women wey e upload ontop im paid Telegram channel.
For im oda social media pages, e post many videos of di time e meet dis many women and how e lure dem to im room.
Social media dey divided as pipo dey tok say make di law deal wit dis man wey dem accuse say e do di same tin for Kenya and oda African kontris.
Odas dey blame di women say na dem allow make di man take advantage of dem.
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Wetin we know about di alleged perpetrator
Dem say e be vlogger and content creator from Russia wey dey travel from kontri to kontri to have sexual encounters wit women.
E dey im mid-thirties wey e dey operate multiple social media pages.
E no dey clear di motive behind wetin e dey do – whether e dey do im own tin for pleasure and money or say sombodi dey sponsor am to do dis tins for some of dis African kontris.
But bifor di recent drama, details about who e be and wetin e dey do no dey publicly available.
But many African and Russian media dey identify am as "pick-up artist" and blogger.
Afta e post di videos wit di Ghana women, na so e begin trend; at di moment, nobodi know wia e dey.
Wetin e do?
E dey accused of video recording im meetings wit women wey e dey post online.
Dem say e use smart glasses to record di women witout dia knowledge.
According to many reports and some of di victims wey tok dia experience on top social media, di Russian man dey use smart glasses wey get video recorder, to capture evritin.
E dey film from wen im dey meet di women wey e dey chat wit dem and ask dem to follow am to im apartment.
All dis time, di women neva know say e dey record dem, na so e even film sexual encounters wit dis women.
For im TikTok and Instagram pages, e just post di faces of di women inside di plenti videos wey dem dey gree to follow am to im apartment.
But dem say e dey upload di sexual videos on top oda platforms wey pipo dey pay and subscribe bifor dem fit watch di content for dia.
Wia dis foto come from, MEHDI TAAMALLA/NURPHOTO VIA GETTY IMAGES
Who be di victims?
Di victims dey cut across – di young and old.
E dey make sure say di pipo e dey engage wen im meet dem, be more dan 18 years.
E carry some of di women go shopping; some dance wit am for hotel room wey e allegedly sleep wit some.
Some of di women be married, odas get boyfriends wey some odas be workers for di apartment wia e dey stay.
In fact, some of di women refuse to follow am wey dem turn am down.
E neva be clear how many women fall victim for dis man for Ghana but since di videos comot ontop social media, some of di alleged victims dey share dia side of di story.
Wetin authorities tok?
Ghana gender ministry condemn di activities of dis foreign national.
According to di ministry, di Russian national comot di kontri but e neva dey reduce di seriousness of di case.
"To dey record pesin witout dia consent and to dey share am ontop social media be criminal offence wey be clear violation of di dignity and privacy of di women," di gender ministry statement tok.
Di minister – Agness Naa Momo Lartey say dem dey work wit di communication ministry and odas to respond to dis "image-based sexual abuse".
Among oda tins, di ministry say dem dey work to get di agencies to take down di videos.
"We dey collaborate wit police and oda security agencies to find lawful options wey dey available including cross-border cooperation and legal assistance."
Di gender ministry add say "we dey offer support services wey include psychological and legal assistance through confidential channels to ensure di wellbeing and privacy of victims.
Di communication and digital innovation ministry oga Sam Nartey George tok journalists say dem dey take dis case serious.
E say e invite di Russian ambassador for meeting ova di mata, wey dem go do evritin to make sure say e face di law.
"We go find dis man, we go use all di resources available to work wit Interpol."
Sam George also add say "di govment no dey concerned about di morality of pipo, but di fact say foreign pesin go enta Ghana and secretly film women wey e get sexual encounters wit, to post online; dat one na crime".
Under di Ghana cyber Security Act 2000, anybody wey publish explicit fotos of children or adults witout dia full consent fit face up to 25 years for prison.
Similarly, Kenyan authorities don also confam say intimate footage of Kenyan women dey recorded and circulated witout consent.
Di Ministry of Gender, Culture and Children Services bin describe di case as "disturbing incident" and "violation of personal dignity and privacy" wey dey protected under di Kenyan constitution.
Nairobi say dem don launch coordinated multi-agency response, directing security, investigative and prosecutorial bodies to treat di mata urgently, plus working wit international partners sake of dia cross border nature.
Officials don warn di public say make dem no share or redistribute di videos. Dem say to do so fit amount to criminal offence and cause further harm to di victims.
Online reports wey link di same suspect to incidents for both Ghana and Kenya don ginger calls for stronger regional cooperation on digital abuse cases.
Wia dis foto come from, JUB RUBJOB/GETTY IMAGES
Wetin go hapun next?
Russia no dey extradite dia citizens, unless wetin happun dey very serious.
Di minister tok say e don ask for di cooperation of di Russian ambassador in Accra for Moscow to help dem get justice for di victims.
Sam George add say dem go work wit Interpol and oda international organisation to bring di man "to face justice".
E explain say if even dem no carry am come Ghana to face di law, dem go judge di case for court in absentia.
For di meantime, dem dey work to takedown most of di explicit videos of di women ontop social media.
Weda Russia go cooperate neva dey clear, but Ghana and Kenya insist say dem go continue to push for accountability, wherever di suspect fit currently dey.
Authorities for Ghana don dey pay more attention to online abuse, including sexual extortion and romance scams.
Dem don arrest odas wey dey involve in such crimes in di past.
For 2022, court sentence 22-year-old phone repairer, Solomon Doga, to 14 years for prison for sharing nude fotos of one Lebanese woman.
E plead guilty for sexual extortion and sharing non-consensual fotos.
Ghana also introduce new laws under di Cybersecurity Act 2020 to punish pipo wey dey share nude fotos or videos online, especially for women and children, mostly for revenge or to blackmail.
