Tuesday, May 25, 2010
[size=14pt]Oluwole, notorious black market, resurrects in Mandillas[/size]

Sesan Olufowobi


There are indications that the hitherto dead black market on Oluwole Street, Lagos Island, where illegal trading such as certificate and document forgery, fake foreign currencies and fake goods once thrived has resurrected in nearby Mandillas Street.





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Oluwole, the notorious flourishing black market, was raided by the Lagos State Government in conjunction with security agencies in 2007 in its quest to have a decent and amiable business district on the island.

Before now, Mandillas was regarded as a commercial centre on Lagos Island populated mainly by traders who sell imported clothes, ties, bags, wrist watches and shoes.

But the story is changing now with the recent arrest of a man, Afeez Abiola, who specialises in using fake N1,000 notes to buy motorcycles, wholesale recharge cards and other goods.

Unlike in the past where there was high concentration of the forgers on Oluwole, policemen from Lion Building who arrested Abiola, said the forgers were now found in every nook and cranny of Lagos Island.

Abiola told our correspondent that for genuine N5,000 notes, one could buy N50,000 fake in N1,000 denomination in Mandillas.

"That is how I usually get my own. Once I bought the fake money, I would mix it with the genuine ones to confuse the person I wanted to buy goods from," he said.

He said he usually picked Saturdays to buy his goods to avoid the prying eyes of the owners of the shops since most of them stayed away from their shops on Saturdays and allowed their apprentices to attend to customers.

He said, "The shopowners usually use the day to relax or do other things. The boys (apprentices) in the shops are naturally not as careful as their bosses. That is when I go to the shops. That was how I bought two Bajaj okadas (motorcycle).

"I bought the first one for N93, 000, I mixed fake N60,000 in N1,000 denomination with genuine N33,000 and sold it later for N70,000. The second one was more profitable; I bought the Okada for N90,000 and sold it for N75,000 and I used only N20,000 genuine notes."

Abiola, who was arrested with an accomplice, Ahmed Olayiwola, was, however, caught in Oke Koto, Agege, as he was trying to use fake N1,000 notes to buy another motorcycle.

But this time around his criminal instincts failed him as the shop owner was around. The shop owner was more attentive and it took him no time to recognise that there were fake notes among the money Abiola intended to buy Okada. He immediately called the police that subsequently arrested the suspect.

http://odili.net/news/source/2010/may/25/837.html

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