Emmanuel Onani, Abuja
The
Department of State Services (DSS) yesterday, presented before
journalists one Amina Mohammed, who was alleged to used the Office of
the Wife of the President, to defraud her unsuspecting victim of a
whopping N150 million.
The DSS said the suspect had posed as the First Lady of Kogi State, Hajiya Rashida Bello, to perpetrate the alleged fraud.
Presenting
the suspect at the National Headquarters the Services' Public Relations
Officer, Mr. Peter Afunanya, said Mohammed, also known as Justina
Oluoha and Amina Villa,had invited her victim, Dr. Alexander Okafor, to
the Presidential Villa, having allegedly convinced the latter that the
invitation was at the instance of the wife of the President, Hajiya
Aisha Buhari.
According
to Afunanya, the suspect had taken advantage of the fact that important
dignitaries such as First Ladies, Ministers and the like, are not
subjected to rigorous security checks at the Villa posts.
Afunanya
said Okafor had complained that the suspect had, under false pretenses,
undertaken to facilitate the procurement of a Court of Appeal property
in Lagos, through the First Lady.
The alleged offence, Afunanya stated, was committed on November 22, 2017.
He,
however, said investigation had so far revealed that the President's
wife was in far away Mecca, for Lesser Hajj, when the alleged fraud was
perpetrated.
Afunanya said: "The importance of
this invitation is to unravel the identity of a suspect that had an
unauthorized access to the Aso Rock Presidential Villa and used the
Office of the First Lady to engage in a fraudulent activity.
"You
are invited to note that the woman who is being paraded before you has
adopted various aliases and used the same false identities to defraud
several unsuspecting persons before she was discovered.
"Amina
Mohammed also known as Justina Oluoha, Amina Villa had on 22nd November
2017, paraded herself as the First Lady of Kogi State. She used the
false identity to evade protocol and security thus gaining unauthorised
access into the Villa and particularly the residence of the First Lady
and Wife of the President, Hajiya Aisha Buhari.
"She
took advantage of the fact that personalities as First Ladies,
Minister's and certain categories of officials are not taken through
rigorous protocol and security checks at the Villa posts."
On
how it all began, Afunanya said the victim, Okafor had complained of
being defrauded by the suspect, in respect of a property in Lagos.
This
was as he further disclosed that, in the course of investigation, it
was discovered that the susoect had registered her phone number with the
name, "Amina Villa".
"What may even
surprise you is that Amina, whose phone number is registered with the
name, Amina Villa had on the said date invited one Dr. Alexander Chika
Okafor(aka Chicason) into the Villa wherein she made him believe the
invitation was at the instance of the First Lady. Investigation has
revealed that the First Lady was away on Lesser Hajj and not in the
Villa during the period.
"Dr. Okafor had
complained that he was fleeced of over One Hundred and Fifty Million
Naira (N150m) in respect of a Court of Appeal property in Lagos which
Amina had promised to help him buy through the First Lady. The property
was said to have been part of those under the Presidential
Implementation Committee on Lease of Federal Government Properties",
Afunanya said
He noted that: "Investigation has
shown that this unholy enterprise is not to the knowledge of the First
Lady. What Amina simply did was to use the First Lady’s name and Office
as bait to lure and defraud her victims.
"Members
of the Public are advised to be wary of individuals or groups that drop
names and offices of high government officials to defraud them."
But, the suspect, who exhibited unruly tendencies during the presentation, denied the allegation.
While
the text of the briefing was being read, Mohammed kept interjecting
thus: "It's not true; I cannot be a fraudster. I cannot accept this
allegation".
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