Operatives of the Inspector-General
of Police (IG) Special Intelligence Response Team have arrested a gym
instructor, Loveday Ugochukwu (31), for allegedly posing as the IG, Mohammed
Adamu, on social media to defraud unsuspecting members of the public.
Loveday was arrested alongside a
taxi driver, Ugochukwu Ohia. During
interrogation, Loveday confessed to have impersonated senior police officers in
order to swindle members of the public and police personnel via social media.
He confessed to have posed as the IG
on Facebook and under that ploy, conned some Nigerians, including policemen.
According to the suspect, he took to
cybercrime after his wife had a baby through a caesarean section. Although the
baby died, he had to pay N320, 000 medical bills. He disclosed that the payment
bankrupt him.
He was ruminating over his
depressing financial situation when his wife’s friend, Ihuoma Chima, visited
him. Chima revealed to him how to get out of his financial difficulty.
Loveday said: “I first started internet
scam by using the picture of the Deputy-Inspector-General of Police (DIG),
Peace Igbokwe, on Facebook. People tried to secure employment through me,
thinking I was the DIG Igbokwe. Policemen chatted me up on social media, asking
for assistance to go on Peace Keeping Mission, while others asked for
promotions.
“I charged between N70, 000 to N60,
000 from those seeking for Peace Keeping Mission. I charged N200, 000 from
policemen begging for promotion. I later set up another account, using photographs
of the new IG, Mohammed Adamu.”
The suspect said that he actively
started using the IG’s account and profile on January 23, 2019. He claimed to
have used it to defraud only two persons. But police believed otherwise.
Loveday said: “One of them was a policeman.
He wanted be among policemen picked for Peace Keeping Mission. He paid N15,
000. The second person is Mr Shuiabu Semion; he requested for the renewal of
his gas contract with the Nigeria Police.”
Loveday ran into trouble after he swindled
Semion, a police contractor of N800, 000. Loveday defrauded Semion under the
guise of trying to help him renew his contract of supplying gas to the Nigeria
Police Force. The contract was terminated in 2002.
The police said: “Semion started
communicating with Loveday on Facebook on January 23, 2019. This was a few days
after President Muhammadu Buhari, appointed and decorated the Acting IG. Thinking
he was interacting with the new IG, Semion pleaded that his gas contract with
the police ne renewed. Loveday quickly referred him to his ‘protocol
officer,’ who he identified as Luka Abraham, an Assistant Commissioner of
Police (ACP). Loveday asked Semion to call the ACP on phone. He gave him a
phone number.”
When Semion called, Loveday, who was
also the ‘protocol officer,’ told him to pay N800, 000 for paper work
documentations.
The source said: “An account number
was sent to Semion, who quickly made the payment. Semion started suspecting
something was wrong when the protocol officer kept asking for more money to
perfect the paper works. When Semion informed the fake IG about the development,
he insisted Semion should continue to deal with his protocol officer.”
Semion at that point was uneasy and
suspecting something was fishy, went to IRT office in Abuja to report the
incident. He was fortunate to meet the overall head of IRT Unit, a Deputy Commissioner
of Police (DCP), Abba Kyari. After listening to Semion, Kyari told him that he
was dealing with a fraudster. The crack detective further advised him to play
along with the fraudster so that operatives could catch him. A few days later, Loveday
called Semion, demanding for additional money.
The police explained: “The victim
told him that he had only N30, 000 with him. The victim further told him that
there was no money in his account. He said that he was broke. He asked Loveday
if he could send his boys to meet him somewhere, so that he could hand over the
money to them. The suspect quickly called his accomplice, Ohia. Both of them
headed straight to Abuja Central Business District, to meet Semion. IRT
operatives laid ambush for them.”
When Loveday and Ohia got to the
location, Ohia called Semion on phone and introduced himself as Personal
Assistant (PA) to the protocol officer to the IGP. For reasons yet to be
fathomed, Loveday and Ohia sensed danger and immediately attempted to bolt.
But IRT operatives, who were on
ground, started chasing them. They were arrested at the Abuja City gate.
Loveday confessed after his arrest
that he was the fake IG, who had been operating on Facebook. He also acted as
protocol officer to the IGP on the phone.
Ohia, denying he was into
cybercrime, claimed to have only provided a cab service to his friend. Loveday,
who described himself as a gym instructor, said: “I went into internet fraud after
my wife delivered our last child through a caesarian section. The baby later
died, but I had already paid N320, 000, which eventually made me broke.
One of my wife’s friends, Ihuoma Chima, who came to sympathize with me on the
death of our baby, lured me into internet fraud.’
Remembering how his police victims
used to chat with him, Loveday said: “Whenever they start chatting with me, I
referred them to my ‘protocol officer’. I used to tell them that my protocol
officer would process everything for them. I would give them the name of the
officer as ACP Luka Abraham, with phone number 08098306171, which is actually my
phone number. Whenever the person called, we go into negotiation on how I could
assist the person. After negotiation, I send an account name bearing Sunday
Aduyikodu, with account number 2083471724. It was after DIG Igbokwe retired,
that I opened another different account. I knew people would no longer want to
discuss with her again.”
Loveday said that when Semion told
him that he was financially down and had only N30, 000 with him, he asked him
to send it across. Semion, however, said that his brother would wait for Loveday’s
orderly at an agreed venue.
Loveday said: “I told him that I was
going to send my orderly to his fillings station. I contacted a taxi driver and
asked him to take me to the location. When I got there, I asked the driver
to use his phone to call the man. The man came with an envelope. I asked the
driver to receive it. And then suddenly, a vehicle showed up from nowhere. It
tried to block our car; I sensed danger as men came out to surround our car. I
asked the driver to drive out of the place. We zoomed off immediately; while we
were speeding off, our vehicle had a minor accident at City Gate. We stopped to
check it and some mobile policemen at that place saw and arrested us. They
handed us over to the other policemen that had been chasing us.”
Ohia (38), narrating his own story,
said: “I’m a taxi driver. I reside in Luge area of Abuja. Loveday is my
friend. We have known each other since 2012. He told me that he is a gym
instructor. I’m aware that Loveday is into internet fraud. Penultimate
Tuesday, he called and told me and that someone owed him money at the central
area.
“He said that the person wanted him
to come to a filling station within the area. He said that when we get to the
place, I should call the person’s phone number. He said that when the person
comes with the money, he would collect it himself.
“When we got there, I made the call.
A man came towards our car with an envelope. When he sighted us, he shouted and
some men came out from every corner. A vehicle also tried to block us. I
drove dangerously and we escaped from the scene. I then had an accident, which
made police to catch up with us.”
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