...dupe unsuspecting Nigerians of millions of Naira ...victim cries out
Juliana Francis
A 34-year-old man, Mr. James Ayoola, has narrated how some policemen from Edo State came to Lagos State to arrest and collect N1.273 million from him and his mum, after accusing him of buying a stolen phone.
Ayoola, who said that he was shocked when the policemen arrested him, said he later found out that his alleged crime was fabricated, just as he also found out that the policemen were working with some civilians and policemen attached to a police station in Ikorodu.
But before Ayoola found out the truth, he and his mum had been extorted. He also found out that one of his parents’ tenants, identified as Danjuma aka Adam, was behind his ordeal.
It was further alleged that Danjuma told everyone in the community that he was a policeman, working with the Special Anti-Robbery Squad (SARS).
Ayoola said that his ordeal started on August 26, 2020, when the policemen knocked on his door and arrested him, accusing him of stealing a phone and jewellery. Ayoola didn’t want to argue, because he had just bought a phone some weeks back. He thought the policemen were from Ikotun Police Station, which was the nearest police station to his home.
He said: “They claimed to have come from Ikotun Police Station. They didn’t show their identification cards and they were armed with guns and handcuffs. When I opened my door, they asked me if my name was Emma, I said no, but Emma squats with me. One of them said, ‘arrest him.’ I asked him my offence; he then asked if I knew one Azubuike, I said no. They told me that my phone belonged to Azubuike and was stolen. I told them I bought it from a phone dealer, who is even our church member. These policemen came in a Toyota Sienna. I thought they were taking me to Ikotun Police Station, but they drove past Ikotun Division, passed Area M and Ikeja Police Station, and then headed for Berger. I became disturbed. I asked where they were taking me; they said I was pretending I didn’t know where I robbed Azubuike. They said they were taking me to Auchi.”
When the team got to Auchi, the policemen called Azuibuike. “He turned out to be someone I had never seen in my life. I have never even been to Auchi. I’m a businessman, selling Shawarma. How can I leave Lagos State and go to Auchi to rob someone of phone and jewellery?”
When Azubuike was questioned in the presence of Ayoola, he said that he saw Ayoola at Love Garden, in Ikotun, playing snooker.
“He said that he had a sick son, he met two men at Ikotun, who claimed they could heal his son. They took him to Love Garden, where he saw me. He told the two men he was a car dealer in Auchi. The two men said they would take him to Auchi, on the way, one of them brought out a calabash filled with powdery stuff and blew it into his face. He fell asleep and woke up to discover his phone and Cuban necklace were gone. He said the men used his phone to move N400,000 from his account. When he went to report, the police started tracking his phone and tracked it to me,” Ayoola said.
He also alleged that it was later he discovered Danjuma was working with the policemen and had given information about him.
Ayoola said that he bought his phone four months earlier and his close buddy, Danajuma, knew about it. When the police started interrogating Ayoola, they told him that Azubuike’s phone was stolen four months ago.
He added: “The policemen told me that if I wanted the case to go away, I should give Azubuike N1.8 million. I started crying. I was returned to the cell.”
Meanwhile, his family members and friends in Lagos had started frantically searching for him. Danjuma also joined in the search party. At a stage, Danjuma, allegedly showing that he was a policeman, told the searchers he had a colleague, Inspector Gabriel, who would be able to track Ayoola’s phone and tell them his location. Some minutes later, Gabriel called Danjuma to state that Ayoola had been tracked to Auchi. He further urged the family to hurry because “Auchi Police Station is notorious for killing suspects”.
The family mobilised and sent N30,000 to Danjuma’s bank account, so that he could book a bus to Edo State. Danjuma went with Ayoola’s mum.
The following day, Ayoola was allowed out of cell to see his mum and Danjuma. The third day, he was released.
He said: “I later discovered that the policemen and Danjuma used a Point of Sale (POS) to withdraw N744,000 from my account and also collected N256,000 from my mum for my bail. After collecting the money, they asked her to bring a surety for my bail, but she didn’t know anyone in Auchi. Danjuma told my mum that he would run around to look for a surety. He returned to say that the surety wanted N500,000. My mum promised to transfer the money later.”
Ayoola explained that 15 days after his return from Edo State, Danjuma started harassing his mother for N500,000, insisting that the surety was disturbing him. The woman was compelled to raise N270,000, which she transferred to Danjuma, promising to pay the balance.
Ayoola decided to drag the phone dealer into the matter. According to him, he didn’t want to pay N1.8 million alone.
He said: “Danjuma advised we should call the police team at Auchi to arrest the phone dealer since they were the ones handling the investigation. The policemen asked for N120,000 in order to come down to Lagos, but I sent N110,000. I also paid two days for their lodging in a hotel. The phone dealer and another worker were arrested and taken to Auchi Police Station. The Investigating Police Officer (IPO) is called Inspector Aro. I can’t recollect his other name. I went with them to Auchi. The policeman said we should share the money N500,000 each, I felt it was a good deal and accepted. I was shocked to see the same Azubuike at the police station, accusing another man of stealing his phone. When I asked Aro why Azubuike was accusing another person of phone theft again, he tried to explain, but his story didn’t make an iota of sense.”
Ayoola left the phone dealer and the third suspect in detention at Auchi and returned to Lagos. He was, however, shocked to see the dealer in Lagos. The dealer told him that the police collected N300,000 cash and made him transfer N200,000 to Danjuma.
The puzzle in the game allegedly began to fall into place, when Danjuma went to charge his phone in the family house of Ayoola and left his phone. One Shola, who thought the phone belonged to a lady, Zainab, in the compound, picked and saw strange messages. The messages were chats between Danjuma and the police.
Zainab, on the other hand, said that Danjuma gave her his phone and that a certain Aro would call, she shouldn’t pick. But she could use the phone for other things. He also told her that he needed her to go to Auchi with him, to assist in doing a case that had to do with his elder sister’s car. He said the sister was in Dubai and someone defrauded her through a car. The sister, claimed Danjuma, needed a female to represent her in Nigeria and handle the case for her. He promised to pay Zainab for her troubles.
Zainab became scared when she saw a gun with Danjuma on their way to Auchi. At the station, he told her to go and complain that the phone he gave her had been stolen. Zainab became confused.
She said: “When I argued, he threatened to shoot me. He gave me the empty carton of the phone and N50,000. I also saw Azubuike at the police station. Danjuma had shown us his picture on his phone, so when I saw him, I knew it was the same Azubuike. I became uneasy and called my elder sister. She asked me to tell Danjuma that my mum wanted me to come home immediately. While returning to Lagos, Danjuma noticed I was not myself and threatened to shoot me if I did ‘anyhow.’”
Just as the clues were piling up against Danjuma, he went and stole two phones belonging to two neighbours. Everyone started looking for the phones. Danjuma was said to have told the owners that he could assist them to speak with his colleague, Inspector Gabriel, to track both phones. After a month, he came to the owners to say the phones had been tracked to Port Harcourt, but that he needed N100,000 to go to Port Harcourt to get the phones. Both victims refused, stressing that the prices of the phones were not even up to N100,000.
Unfortunately for Danjuma, his girlfriend, while cleaning his apartment, discovered the two phones inside his bag. When she confronted him, he said he took them to teach the owners, who were his friends, to stop being careless. After that incident, he was said to have left the compound. Till date, he is yet to return the two phones.
The matter since then has been reported at the Ikotun Police Station. But Danjuma is yet to be arrested.
When our reporter reached out to Danjuma, he said that the matter was not something to discuss on the phone, insinuating that the allegations against him were lies.
He said Ayoola and others attacked and broke his leg and since then he had been going to hospital. He promised to tell his story on Friday.
Our reporter also called Inspector Aro and just like Danjuma, he denied the allegations. He told his own side of the story.
To be continued.
No comments:
Post a Comment