This was revealed to Crime Reports by the second-in-command of the security outfit, Elijah Bawa, a Chief Superintendent of Police, who represented the Commander, Brigadier-General Laz Ilo, while parading the suspects at the Operation Burst headquarters in Ibadan.
CSP Bawa said that the suspects admitted that their only means of livelihood was defrauding innocent people. He added that preliminary investigations revealed that two of the suspects were unrepentant fraudsters who had been known for long in Ibadan city. He stated further that they had been convicted and confined at Agodi prisons in the past, but had returned to the illicit business after regaining freedom.
Bawa also said that the third suspect’s claim that he was also a victim of the fraudsters sounded unconvincing as he was suspected to be a member of the syndicate, disclosing that they would all be handed over to the police authorities for further investigation and prosecution.
Crime Reports had an interview with the suspects. Below are the excerpts of their statements:
Adekunle Adesina
I am from Oyo town. I am 51 years. I was selling used tyres which were being brought to Nigeria illegally. In Lagos State. In 2007, I came to Ibadan after staying in Cotonou, Benin Republic for a while. We were living at Omi Adio area. I bought plastic chairs and tables and went into rental business.
I started this fraudulent business after I was also duped by my close friend, Fatai, in 2010. He invited me to Lagos, saying that he was working at Tin Can Port. He told me that he saw some dollars in a ship, asking me to look for some money to clear it. He collected N150,000 and it was afterwards that I discovered that he was a con man. Thereafter, he introduced me to the business and I have been doing it ever since.
I did the business anytime I was called that there was work to do. Fatai and Hassan, who is based in Ibadan, used to invite me. I knew Hassan through Fatai. What we usually did was to tell our victims that we had supplied some crude oil to some foreigners and were expecting some dollars from abroad which we would need money to clear. It was only the greedy ones that fell victims.
The one that brought us to Operation Burst was when one of us, whom we refer to as ‘canvasser’ gave a woman a lift and offered to be supplying her kerosene. He brought her to our office while the rest of us started discussing about crude oil business. The canvasser who brought her asked her to listen to our discussion, asking her if she was interested so that she could make some money. That was how she fell into our trap. The person who brought her escaped while the rest of us were arrested.
I was once in prison because I collected money from one man. A friend’s brother came to me and said that one man wanted to start rental service, requesting that I link him with the person who sold mine to me. The man gave me N400,000 and I gave the money to one Jide working in a plastic company in Lagos. He was the one who sold mine to me. Unfortunately, when I went back there, I was told he had left the company.
I told the elderly man but I was later arrested by the police. I signed an undertaking that I would pay it back in instalments. I was able to pay back only N160,000 and could not go further. The case was charged to court and I spent 16 months in Agodi prisons. My wife died while I was prison. It was the Chief Judge of Oyo State who granted me pardon in March 2012.
Opeola Hassan
I am from Ibadan. I have OND certificate. I was working in a cement company until it folded up. My friend, Fatai, promised to help me procure a visa to travel out, unknown to me that he was a fraudster. He collected about N600,000 after which he told me that the visa was not granted. Later, he invited me to Lagos and opened up to me on the type of business he was doing, asking me to join him. He gave me necessary guidelines and also gave me some bundles of fake dollars to start the business. I left Lagos and secured a shop at Ojoo area where I started my own business. Fatai introduced me to some canvassers who used to bring victims to us.
Sikiru Adedeji Jagunmade (55)
I am also an indigene of Ibadan. I live at Adegbayi area of the city. I am a land surveyor. On that day I was going to where I have parcels of land at Moniya area when I was accosted at Ojoo by a man who told me his company was doing a promo on vegetable oil. I followed him and met some people in the office. Shortly after, a woman started shouting and Operation Burst came to arrest us. I have never participated in their business.
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