Mr Kazeem Adebayo Omoniyi has narrated how a
suspected fraudster, Mr Abiodun David, posing as an herbalist duped him
N4million.
According to Omoniyi, who is based in USA, he fell
for David’s ruse after the suspect mentioned things were not working out well
for him and he had been expecting something which was yet to materialize. Omoniyi
noted that the fraud was perpetrated when he came to Nigeria for a brief visit.
Omoniyi had earlier sold a land to a network
provider company, but the company was yet to make payment.
When David mentioned that Omoniyi has been hoping to
get something that seemed impossible, Omoniyi mind raced to the unfinished
business with the network provider company.
David told him that if he wanted that pending
problem to be sorted out, he would help him with a charm for “favour and
progress.”
The police recovered a live tortoise from David.
Narrating his experience via phone, Omoniyi, a cab
driver in USA, said that when he told David that his charms were not working
and that he wasn’t going to pay any more money, the man started threatening
him.
Omoniyi said: “He first told me to get different
naira denominations and give to a beggar. He said I should give the money to a
beggar that would approach for alms. It was difficult to get any beggar to come
to me. I had to hire motorcycle to take to different places before I got to
where I stood and a beggar walked up to me. So far, he has collected N4million
from me.”
David, however, insisted that Omoniyi was lying.
According to him, the total money he collected from Omoniyi was just N380, 000.
David, a former barber and herb seller, with five
children, said: “I didn’t collect N4million from him. Yes, I gave him charms
for progress, but it didn’t work. Sometimes, my charms can work, sometimes it
won’t. It’s not my fault. I don’t know the reason charms don’t work sometimes.
But I’m a genuine herbalist. I have been doing this work since three years. I
work from my house in Etan, Ogun State. He was introduced to me by Ismailahi
last year.”
The Zone 2 Police Public Relations Officer (ZPPRO),
Dolapo Badmus, said police embarked on investigation after receiving complaint
from the victim.
She said: “According to his story, the scam started when
he came to Nigeria. He received a text message from an unknown phone number;
the message was numbers of a recharge card. He was wondering who sent it, when
his phone rang. It was the herbalist.
“He said he wanted to send the card number to his
child, who was in school. He begged victim not to load it. He called back
later, saying he was grateful to the victim. He said that he would help victim,
that he had already seen that things were not working out well for him. When
the victim heard those words, his mind went to the land, which he sold to a
network provider company, which was yet to pay.”
After the fateful meeting, the two men later linked
up at David’s shrine. David prepared a concoction and gave it to Omoniyi to
drink. To further convinced Omoniyi that he was really a genuine herbalist;
David was alleged to have changed some papers into money.
Badmus said: “That was how he started collecting
money from the victim, even after the man went back to USA. The victim felt he
was spending too much and not getting result and said he was no longer
interested. He hadn’t seen any changes in his life or business. The suspect
told him that if he refuses to send more money, he would command the concoction
he drank to turn to poison and kill him.”
Badmus said that police were already working round
the clock to find out how David got Omoniyi’s phone number.
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