Udeh
The
Nigerian Immigration Service, Lagos State Command, has arrested a
48-year-old man, Nick Udeh, for posing as a journalist and presenting
fake documents to seek favours from the Comptroller of the command, Mr.
Julius Ogbu.
According to the immigration authorities, the suspect and others at large posed as employees of Newswatch Magazine and other media houses and wrote a letter to the comptroller requesting a meeting with him.
The bubble, however, burst last Friday
when the comptroller referred the suspect to the command’s public
relations officer, Muyiwa Odunubi.
Unknown to the suspect, calls had been
made to management of the media house in question, including his scanned
photograph, where it was discovered he had never been an employee of
the company.
While speaking with PUNCH Metro
at the command headquarters in Alagbon Close, Ikoyi, Lagos, the suspect,
who claimed in the letter to the officer that they came from Abuja for a
seminar in Lagos, pleaded for mercy.
He said, “I have never been an employee of Newswatch magazine. I know that in the media, some people blackmail. But this one is totally out of it.
“We did not blackmail him. The letter we
wrote is a friendly one. I don’t know why they are reading meanings to
it. We only asked for a friendly meeting with him. We stated in the
letter that we came for a seminar and decided to bring this letter since
all of us cannot come in group. There is no big deal there.
“We decided to do something to get close
to him (Ogbu) being a new man here. We just wanted to reach out to him
as friends because if you read the letter there was no place we said we
needed anything because there was nothing he had done to warrant
blackmail.
“But in this case, we went too far. I
agree that the act is criminal and I accept that I am guilty of
impersonation and there is no point denying. I regret my action.
“But I am appealing that I should be shown some element of mercy so that I can get out of this place. This is my first time.”
When asked what his real occupation was,
the suspect said he was planning to migrate to the United States for
greener pastures and said any criminal charge could affect his plans.
The service said the suspect would be handed over to the police for further investigation.
PUNCH
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