A 36-year-old man, Olalekan
Kazeem, has been arrested by the Lagos State Police Command for alleged fraud
and theft.
According to police authorities,
the suspect’s modus operandi was to either impersonate a popular person on
facebook and defraud unsuspecting people or to offer women free rides with his
car only to make away with their valuables.
PUNCH Metro learnt that five women had fallen victim to his tricks, three of
whom were National Youth Service Corps members.
The police also said the suspect
was five years ago arrested and paraded before journalists.
The victims told journalists at
the office of the Police Public Relations Officer that the suspect made away
with cash, documents, ATM cards and their handbags.
One of the victims, Adenike
Odubiyi, said Kazeem posed as Prince Adekunle Oyekan on facebook.
She said, “On facebook, someone
with the name Prince Adekunle Oyekan, sent me a friend request. He never used
his own personal picture rather; he used the Nigerian Coat of Arms logo as his
picture.
“I accepted his request and he
was able to get my BlackBerry PIN on my profile page and we used to chat a lot.
“One day he asked me what I was
doing for living but I told him that I completed my NYSC in February but had no
job. He told me he had connections with the Nigerian Customs Service and that
he could help me get a job there.”
Odubiyi said the suspect
demanded for N235,000 and told her that they would need to travel to the NCS
Headquarters, Abuja together.
She said on November 15, 2012,
she met the suspect at Motorways Plaza, and she got into his car.
She said, “My husband dropped me
off at Motorways where I met Kazeem. Kazeem later told me that he was a surgeon
and that his real name was Babs Adegoroye.
“On our way to the Ikeja
Airport, he stopped to buy fuel at Mobolaji Johnson Avenue. After buying fuel,
he said his car was faulty and asked me to help push it (car) so he could kick
start it.
“I alighted from the vehicle,
leaving all my money (N235, 000), my original credentials and other valuables
in his car. Immediately I pushed the car, Kazeem started it and sped off.”
Three NYSC members, who also
fell victim to the suspect, said Kazeem offered them a free ride in Oyo State
but made away with their belongings.
The victims – Fadeke Adefemi,
Ganiyat Ibrahim and Folashade Okunola – were on their way from their Community
Development Service when they met the suspect.
Adefemi said, “On December 20,
2012, my colleagues and I were on our way back from CDS on Ishara end of
Lagos-Ibadan Expressway when Kazeem saw us in our uniform. He offered us a ride
and we boarded his car.
“When we got to Guru Maraji
area, he said his car was faulty and asked us to alight and push it. As we were
pushing it, the car started and he sped off. All our belongings were in his
vehicle, including phones.”
Another victim, Janet Akinbo,
said she had a similar experience with Kazeem when he picked her up at Berger
end of the Lagos-Ibadan Expressway.
She said, “My ATM card, phone
and my original credentials were left in Kazeem’s car. My ATM PIN was my date
of birth and Kazeem was able to obtain this information from my curriculum
vitae.
“He was able to withdraw all the
money in my bank account which was N104, 000.”
The suspect, who claimed to be a
graduate of Civil Engineering, Federal Polytechnic, Ilaro, told PUNCH Metro
that he took to crime because he needed to take care of his wife and four
children.
“I became a fraudster because I
had fallen victim to fraudsters before. I used to be a foreman for a building
construction company but needed more money to take care of my family,” he said.
When quizzed about how he
escaped being sent to jail five years ago, the suspect said he was acquitted of
all charges.
The PPRO, Ngozi Braide, seized
the opportunity to warn members of the public, especially women, to be very
careful when dealing with strangers.
“The case of Cynthia Osokogu
should serve as a lesson to young women that meeting strangers on social
networks or getting into a car with a strange man is dangerous,” she said,
adding that the suspect was arrested through intelligence gathering.
She said, “After the lady he met
on facebook (Odubiyi) reported at Ogudu Police Station, detectives were able to
find him and when his place was searched, some belongings of the other victims
were found.
“Through their items, we were
able to contact them. However, we couldn’t recover their certificates.”
Culled from The Punch
No comments:
Post a Comment