Security operatives have arrested three suspected fraudsters who took advantage of the current insecurity in the country and dubiously obtained a large amount of money from unsuspecting 40 Northern youths on the pretense that they would undergo military training to be security guards in an oil company.
It was gathered that the suspects had instructed the youths to fill a biometric form and send some money so that Identity Cards could be produced for them.
It would be recalled that two weeks ago, there was tension among residents of Okitipupa as no fewer than 45 youths from the northern part of the country were arrested by men of the Ondo State Security Network, also known as Amotekun Corps.
The youths, conveyed in a truck, were intercepted in front of the Okitipupa Army Barracks at about 10 pm.
Reacting, the chairman, Okitipupa Local Government Area, Mr. Igbekele Akinrinwa, who addressed the people at the scene of the incident, said that it was an indigene of the town that had facilitated the travelers trip to the town.
Ayo, one of the fraudsters who masterminded the act and posed as one Reverend Father Bayo and Folajimi Williams was said to have signed and sent the fake letters to bring in the youths to be trained as security guards.
The suspect, in a video monitored by The Street Journal, admitted to have changed his voice at intervals while he spoke with the army officers.
Another suspect identified as Engr. Desmond from Delta State said he graduated from the university 12 years ago and since no job was forthcoming, he decided to settle in the area and start up a POS business. He said the ‘fake reverend father’ came to him and told him his account had a fault and requested for his account number so that people will transfer some funds into it.
It is believed that this was the account the unsuspecting youths who wanted to undergo military training sent money to.
Desmond said he agreed to the proposal because the suspect told him he was renovating his hotel which wasn’t far from his POS shop. He said about N1.3 million was deposited into the account in trenches.
The fraudsters also sent letters, stating that the GOC had approved the mobilization of about 600 men from across the federation to Ondo State.
When the men arrived in Ondo, panic gripped residents of Okitipupa and that was when the Amotekun Corps arrested them and took them to Akure, the state capital.
“The men are mostly northerners who said they wanted to undergo military training in the barracks to be security guards but the commander did not allow them because he did not have a signal to that effect. But since there was no place to keep them in Okitipupa, they have been handed over to Amotekun,” the Police Public Relations Officer in the state, Tee-Leo Ikoro, had said.
Apart from the youths, a non-governmental organization, Harmony Corps, that organized the training for the youths from about nine states across the country was also scammed.
A source who spoke with Nigerian Tribune disclosed that the scam was unraveled by the officials of the DSS in Ondo State, leading to the arrest of the syndicate in Asaba, Delta State.
He explained that some men who claimed to be consultants to an oil company from Eagle Eye, approached the Harmony Corps to help in the recruitment of young men who will be employed by an oil company for the security of its facilities.
He said, “These men approached us and collected money running into millions of naira from the interested youths. The youths paid N10,000 each which was meant for capturing the information of the interested youths.
“The money was paid into the personal account of one Desmond who collected all the data of the interested youths, who claimed it would be inputted to the card reader for easy access.
“They directed the youths from Lagos, Ondo, Osun, Delta, Kano, Cross River, Anambra, Jigawa, and Imo states to come to Ondo State for the training. But people from Kano and Jigawa states came earlier because of their distance.
“They lied to us that letters had been sent to all the security agencies in the state concerning the training in Ondo State only to find out at the last minute that it was not true but the youths from Kano and Jigawa states were already here.
“But it was late before we found out that the men had scammed us and we could not halt the young men’s movement as they had arrived at the Army Barracks where they said the training would take place.
“It was this development that helped to throw more light on the activities of the scammers while those behind the scam were investigated and the leader of the syndicate was arrested in Delta State through the DSS intelligence gathering.
“The invasion of the men who said they were in the state for security training created tension in the state but it was later discovered that they were scammed and not on any other mission than for the training.”
He, however, noted that the biggest issue is that scammers advertise jobs the same way that legitimate employers do, and warned individuals and companies to be wary of these scammers
Watch the interrogation video below