A fraud syndicate, which has been in
operation for years, finally crumpled like a pack of cards after two among the
members, started fighting over a lady called ‘Precious.’
The division in the syndicate, which
has offices in different states and communities, caused operatives of the
Inspector-General of Police Special Intelligence Team (IRT), to smash the gang.
The smashing of the gang started
following series of letters to the IGP, Mohammed Adamu, in Abuja, complaining
over how they were defrauded.
The IGP instructed that IRT
operatives, led by a Deputy Commissioner of Police (DCP), Abba Kyari, should
lead the investigation. At least, 11 members of the syndicate are presently in
police custody. The suspects included a 28-year-old woman, Peace Eje.
Others are Frank Pius, Nduka
Innocent, Okechukwu John, Nicholas Nwosu, Chikezie Uwandu, Amos Eze, Ikechukwu
John, Michael Ali, Usman Ladan and Lawrence Adams.
One of the members, Usman Ladan, 60,
said that trouble started after the overall leader, Lawrence Adams made moves
to snatch his lover, Precious, from him. He believed that the split in the gang
was the genesis of their waterloo.
He said: “It was Mr. Lawrence that
led the police to arrest me because we had a fight over Precious, who is my
girlfriend. As a chairman, I coordinate all the operations and I have all
the materials that are used for the operation.”
According to the police, the
syndicate specialised in defrauding unsuspecting residents of Kaduna State and
the Federal Capital Territory, (FCT), Abuja, of their money. The suspects were
all arrested in Kabala area of Kaduna State and Jabi area of Abuja.
A police source said: “The syndicate
operates, using cabs. When they have a target in their cab, would start up a conversation
about a bag filled with foreign currencies in the boot of the car. The cab
driver would then accuse the supposed owner of the bag of trying to get him and
other passengers into trouble by not informing him about the content in the bag.
“The supposed owner of the bag would
confess that the money in the bag was stolen from an Alhaji, who is very
powerful. The supposed owner would claim to be looking for a spiritualist, who would
help take away the charm or juju on the money. The owner would also offer to
share the money with everyone in the vehicle if they could help in getting a
powerful medicine man or woman to cleanse the money.
“If the victim is a greedy person,
he would show interest in the story and from that point, he would be taken to a
fake native doctor. At the native doctor’s place, the victim would be asked to
swear to an oath, not to reveal their secret to anyone. From that point, the
victim would be swindled.”
The alleged leader of the syndicate,
Adams, 45, said that he joined the
syndicate and rose to become its leader. He explained that he provided
details on how the syndicate carried out the operation.
Adams, married to two wives, blessed
with nine children, said: “I reside in Abuja metropolis, but I was formerly
into tomato selling business. I was buying from Zaria and supplying to several
part of the country. I fell into the hands of fraudsters and lost N850,000. I
later joined another syndicate. That was in 2007. Members of the syndicate, taught me how to do
the job. We use to have a vehicle, which we use as taxi.”
Explaining the syndicate’s modus
operandi, Adams said: “I usually sit at the front seat of the car, while other
members seat at the back with the victim. When we get to a point, a member at
the back would tell the driver that he wanted to stop, to carry his load in the
boot. The driver would tell him, that he saw that the bag or carton contained
money. The owner would tell the driver that the carton or bag contained $1million
and that he was trying to take the money to his sister to help him remove the
charm.
“The driver would start shouting
that he would take the money to the police. My role is to beg the driver, not
to call police. I would suggest that we help the owner of the money, on the
promise that we would share out of it. The driver will accept our pleadings. We
would then ask our victim, if he knows any herbalist that can remove the charm.
“If he says no, I would mention that
I have an herbalist. We would go there and the herbalist, who is part of us,
would ask each of us to pay N80,000 for cleansing of money. After we have
achieved that, the herbalist will ask us to bring 500, 000 dollars each and
then we would ask him to change the money to naira. I have lost the number of
people I have defrauded. We have several offices in Jabi and Zango, close
to Turkish hospital and at old Karimo.”
Ladan on his part explained that he
coordinates the Kaduna State arm of the syndicate.
He said: “I was formerly a trader. I
became a fraudster in 2008 after I was defrauded. My office is in Kaduna. It
was formerly owned by Yusuf, who is now late. I took over as the
chairman. I have four boys working for me. Alex was our driver, but he
died. He was the person that used to hunt for victims.
“We scout for victims along Nnamdi
Azikiwe Road. Our shrine is located at Kabala area of Kaduna State. I have lost
count of the number of people I have swindled.”
Amos Eze, 38, a fake native of the
syndicate, said: “I’m one of the group’s native doctors. When they bring a
victim to my shrine, I would pretend I didn’t know them. They would ask for mama,
I tell them that mama was dead. I tell them that I’m in charge of mama’s
shrine.”
Eze said: “I will ask what
brought them to my shrine, they will tell me that they have family problems and
needed solutions. I will consult my oracle and tell them that they were all lairs
that they 30 minutes ago. I would tell them that one of them was a thief, but
not a proper one. I tell them that I saw money and charms. They’ll start
begging me to remove the charms for them.
“I’ll ask them to go and buy an
Akpobiki skin, a blind man’s walking stick with oil and water in it, and Sarri
water. These are things I know they couldn’t get by themselves. They’ll ask me
to get them for them. I will ask each of them to pay N30,000, so that I
could get the items to prepare the cleansing of the money.
“When the victim pays her own share
of the money, I would make them swear to an oath, not to allow anyone outside
their circle to know what was going on and from there, I would ask him to pray
for long live and prosperity so that the money would not harm him. I’ll
tell the victim that the charm to cleanse the money, was prepared by seven
Islamic clerics. That it was prepared around 12 midnight. I would not want the
victim to be around when I am spoiling the charm because of the spirit in
it. And then from that point, I would start extorting money from the
victim.”
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