Romanus Ugwu, Abuja
The Department of State Services (DSS) on Tuesday paraded one Prince Mohammed Momoh for impersonating the Special Assistant to the Chief of Staff to President Muhammadu Buhari to defraud one Benson Agiobu from Bayelsa State.
Parading Momoh, who confessed to the crime, at a press conference in Abuja, DSS Spokesperson Peter Afunanya said that he was arrested in a sting operation in Abuja after demanding a whopping sum of $50,000 from his victims, to facilitate his appointment as SA to President Buhari on Oil and Gas.
Speaking while parading him, the Service’s spokesman said: ‘Before now, Nigerians have wondered why and how certain syndicate claiming to be working in the presidency, defraud unsuspecting Nigerians with the promise to provide one job offer or the other and telling them to pay certain amount of money to process it.
‘Almost on regular basis, we have received information from members of the public and some VIPs of certain invitations from persons who claim to be from the Chief of Staff to the President or SGF. They will tell them to forward their CVs with certain clearance fees for certain appoints.
‘It became a thing of concern and as a security organisation with the responsibility to secure Nigerians, we had to move into action when one person reported that somebody claiming to be working with Chief of Staff contacted him to pay the sum of $50,000 to facilitate the appointment for him as SA to the president on Oil and Gas.
‘There was apprehension and anxiety whether he was actually making the right claims. The name of the person that made the claim is Mohammed Prince Momoh from Olamaboro in Kogi State, the head of the syndicate defrauding Nigerians. He was acting in collaboration with some other persons that are at large,’ Afunanya noted.
Speaking further, he explained that: “Prince Momoh had worked for someone in the Aso Villa before as a support staff. He had gotten across to Benson to make the financial demand. We continue to advice Nigerians to be cautious in falling for such people that claim to be working for the appointing authorities.
‘We also advice people that use social media to know the kind of information they put to the public dormain. People are there to use such information to defraud unsuspecting public especially those that are venerable and gullible or for one reason or the other fall victim.
‘Benson was smart enough to know that those people are fraudsters and reported to the service who in a sting operation nabbed Prince Mohammed in Abuja who impersonated to be in the security details of the Chief of Staff and had stormed the house where they want to collect the $50,000.
‘He had claimed that while $25,000 will be given to the Chief of Staff, the remaining ones will be for some boys. But our investigation confirmed that they never acted on behalf of the Chief of Staff. This is not the first time we are nabbing suspects like this to inform Nigerians of their existence. We will continue to disrupt the activities of these elements and be hard on them applying what is within the law of the land to serve as deterrent to others,’ he explained.
Confirming his involvement, Prince Momoh said: ‘I am 42-years-old, married to one wife and had two children. The allegation the Service made against me is very unfortunate but true. I collected the CV of a young man from Bayelsa State to help him submit and offer him an appointment. I worked in the Villa in 2013 – 2014 with the previous government. This is the first time I am involving myself in such.’