A Lagos State based businessman, Adeniyi
Adegboyega, has narrated how some fake officers of the Nigeria Customs Service,
who he met on Facebook, defrauded him N4.3million.
Adegboyega was defrauded of the sum
in a phony car auction deal. Operatives of the Inspector-General of Police,
Special Response Team (IRT), led by a Deputy Commissioner of Police (DCP), Abba
Kyari, have, however, arrested two among members of the syndicate.
It was gathered that the operatives
had to travel to Ewan area of Akoko, Edo Local Government Area, Edo State and
walked into a village, which local security operatives claimed was infested
with criminals and deadly.
Although members of the syndicate
fled, the operatives were able to arrest two, Saturday and Lucky Amos.
The hunt for members of the
syndicate started after Adegboyega wrote a petition to the IGP, Mohammed Adamu.
In his petition, Adegboyega complained that the suspects, who he met on Facebook,
made him to believe that they were genuine Custom officers on auction
exercise.
Adegboyega reportedly told the
police: “I became friends with a Facebook user, Olaiya Funke, since 2019. On May
23, Olaiya Funke sent me an advertisement on the Nigeria Customs Service auction
sales for 2019. Olaiya Funke introduced me to Mohammed Mutari and Bello Abbas
who claimed that they were Customs officers. They offered to process some
vehicles and deliver them to me. They asked me to pay N650, 000 for a Lexus RX330, but
I didn’t make any payment. Again, another set of individuals, who identified
themselves as Uduak Effiong, Khadijat and Garba approached me on Facebook. They
also asked me to buy a Mercedes Benz E350, 2010 Model sets and another two sets
of, Toyota Hiace buses for N650, 000, each.
“They sent me accounts numbers
belonging to Mbu Ebhat, Obhasi David, Jacob Dennis Okiemute and Kokten Monday
Kinben, using UBA, First and GT banks. I paid a total sum of N4.3m into those
accounts. After making the payments, all the officers refused to pick my calls.
I reported the matter to IRT, who trailed the suspects to their home town in
Edo State and arrested them.”
The IRT operatives were said to have
used one of the phone numbers, used by the suspects in defrauding Adegboyega,
to track them.
During investigation, IRT operatives
discovered that the community was a haven for internet fraudsters. It was also
gathered that the suspects used to take advantage of the single road leading
into the community to prevent security operatives from arresting suspected fraudsters
in the community.
A police source said: “When we got
to the local police station, nearest to the community, we were warned to be careful
as most of the young men in that community were into crime. We were also told
that they do not allow police to come into their community to make arrest. The
police there said that such attempt usually leads to policemen being ambushed. We
were able to sneak into the community and arrested two of the suspects in their
sleep. They have since confessed to the crime.”
One of the suspects, Saturday, 24,
disclosed that he was lured into fraud because of unemployment.
Saturday said: “I was arrested
because I have been impersonating the Nigeria Custom Service officer in charge
of auctioning. I started this fraud this year February. It was Jimoh, who
ran out of our community during the community last crisis that taught me the business.”
Revealing his modus operandi,
Saturday said: “I’ll open a Facebook account, displaying me as a Customs officer
in charge of auctioning. I will also advertise lots of vehicles and bags of
rice, claiming they were available for auctioning. I also used to place cheap
prices on the vehicles, so as to make them attractive to greedy people.”
Recollecting his first achievement,
Saturday said: “I defrauded one Samuel N45, 000. He wanted to buy bags of rice.
I offered him the bags of rice for N5500; he said that he wanted to buy 50
bags. He asked to deposit N15, 000, promising to balance up after he received
the delivery. I accepted and he paid us the money, but we then changed the
story and told him that the bags of rice had been seized by another set of Customs
officers. We told him that we needed N30, 000 to resolve the matter. He sent
the money and immediately after that, we stopped picking his calls.”
Saturday explained that he wasn’t
the person that started or brought the job of defrauding Adegboyega. He
confessed that other members of the syndicate are China and Junior. He
described Junior as the ‘catcher’ in the syndicate.
Saturday said that he thought Adegboyega
was defrauded only N450, 000, but was shocked to hear that it was N4.3m after
he was arrested and taken to police station.
Recounting the role he played in the
business, Saturday said: “I called Adegboyega that to deliver his vehicle; I
needed money for fuel and oil. He gave me N150, 000. I called him after a while
and told that the vehicle had been seized. I told him to call the people that
sold the vehicle to him. When he called them, they collected more money from
him. Yes, they were my members, but they didn’t tell me the amount they
collected from the man. If they had told me they collected such a huge amount
of money from Adegboyega, I would have known how to deal with it. The
only money I took from the man was just N150, 000, and I got N50, 000 as my
share. The boys who defrauded the man are still walking free in my village. I
wish that the police would arrest them.”
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