Lagos

Detectives at the State Criminal Investigation Department (SCID), Panti, Yaba, at the weekend arrested three fraudsters for attempting to dupe a female youth corper of N500,000.

The detectives arrested the suspects whose names were given as Chibuike Ochiaoba, Silvester Odejie and Oboh Williams following a report made to the SCID by the youth corper, Miss Ifeoma Kenine.

They were said to have used fake U.S. dollar notes to lure the corper into paying them an initial N50,000 and promising to give them the balance in the hope of getting N2 million in return.

The DC SCID, Mr Olayinka Balogun, who confirmed the arrest, described the lady as a "smart person" by tricking the fraudsters to the police.

"If every resident in the state will be as smart and alert as the youth corper, then fraudsters tricking people will be a thing of the past," he said.

According to him, the 24-year old corper, was going to Obalende from Ajah when she was picked up on March 31 by the fraudsters.

He said that the lady's report to the police showed that Chibuike acted as a taxi driver, Silvester a passenger who later dropped on the road, while Oboh who acted as a whiteman, claimed he came from Gabon.

The DC said "fake whiteman" Oboh, was speaking like an American and convinced the lady that he had about 10,000 US dollars but did not know how to spend it and where to change it.

He said that Oboh requested for the lady's assistance to teach him how to convert dollars into the Nigeria currency and offered to pay her 500 dollars.

Balogun added that it was at this point that the fraudsters took her to Ojodu Berger where Oboh flashed 5 dollars before her and told her that was the 10,000 dollars with him, while another 10,000 dollars was with a friend who is a customs officer.

He said that the lady was then asked to get N500,000 as her own contribution so that they (fraudsters) could produce N2 million worth of chemicals to print more money as they had only N50,000 which she gave them.

The DC said that their effort to collect more money from the corper landed them in police net.








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