Simeon Mpamugoh
They were a group of three hefty men. They visited a car mart owned by one John Makinde at a popular auto market in Lagos, where they demanded the price of the 2013 model of Toyota Camry XLE. The dealer gave them N5 million as the official price.
An eyewitness stated that the kidnappers collected the car dealer’s bank account details. After two days, the sum of N3 million was sent to his account. Three days later, they came to him and apologised for being unable to pay up the balance of N2 million. They asked him to refund N2.5 million of the money already paid into his account and keep the remaining N500, 000 as compensation for any inconveniences their inability to pay up the balance might have caused him.
The eyewitness noted that Makinde was excited that he got such a huge amount of money as compensation for doing nothing. But to his consternation, four days later, police operatives of the Federal Special Anti-Robbery Squad (F-SARS) and Anti-Kidnapping Squad stormed his car mart and demanded to know if he was the owner of the bank account used for the transaction, which he affirmed. He was arrested.
It dawned on him then that the guys were kidnappers who used his bank account to receive ransom from their victims, thus making him complicit to the crime.
“Meanwhile, he had refunded N2.5m to the kidnappers without any traces,” the eyewitness account revealed.
Mr. Moses Ugwunna is a Lagos-based car dealer. He said: “The guys had made the matter look like the N.5 million to Makinde was his share of the loot. Now he is in deep trouble that could have been avoided if he had been a bit careful.
“There is need for every businessman to aspire to stay safe. Don’t go looking for quick money or commissions without doing your due diligence. Let wisdom guide you, and don’t be greedy.
“As people are researching into new technologies on how to get things done with speed, men of the underworld are also devising new formats to beat security operatives without traces.
“We should also note that since the Money Laundering (Prohibition) Act of 2011, and subsequent launch of a centralised biometric identification system for the banking industry tagged Bank Verification number (BVN) by the Central Bank of Nigeria on February
14, 2014, which makes it possible to trace bank accounts of individuals, economic and financial crimes sector had witnessed new dimensions.
“Fraudsters are coming up with new gimmicks to dispossess their victims of their wealth. It is now left for government to up the ante by thinking out of the box by introducing fresh devices to upstage them,” Ugwunna said.
In his views, the executive president, Institute of Criminology and Penology, Solomon Osagwena, said, “This is one of many ways we’ve heard such events happening. These people have become highly technical, intelligent, experienced and sophisticated in their
approach to crime and criminality, such that when you burst one technique, they move to the next one. So, they have different types of strategies.
“An essential point to make about this matter is that we are not taking serious measures to fight criminality in this country. It is a problem of a system. The people who will crack down on crime and criminality and stamp it out of the country are either involved in it or members of their families are involved.
“There is no amount of talk that will solve this problem, unless we involve professionals of criminology, crime fighters, psychologists and sociologists who must team up and come up with international best practices in crime fighting.
“Our challenges as a country are that our leaders spurn consultants when they develop templates for tackling the menace. Even monies earmarked for security are allegedly shared among themselves. So, our leaders are not sincere in matters of crime and criminality in this country.
“Before one can say that someone is really in charge of a security programme in the country, someone has put someone in place for personal gains. So, where would the truth and sincerity come from, except in the sharing of money?”
The security expert stated that he was recently invited by Osun State government to advise it on how to deal with growing menace of street urchins (area boys) in the state. He declared: “The reason there is a growing wave of area boys in many parts of the country is simple: they are used for elections. They are not given the right advice except money to vote during elections.
“There are no plans to better their lives. And after the election has been won, the winner abandons them and abandons the promises made before the election. Why wouldn’t they increase in anti-social activities while waiting for another election?” he wondered.
He canvassed manpower training as one of the ways out of crime and criminality in Nigeria: “We need to engage them through manpower training and skills development. We also need to be sincere in our social welfare programme and its implementation. All hands must be on deck if we must win the battle against crime and criminality. With these in place, I’m sure we will get it right because professionals in this country are ready to leave footprints in the sands of time through collaborations against crime and criminality.
“Where are all the retired army generals, inspector-generals and assistants inspector-generals of police, security experts and other professionals the country boasts? They need to come together for a think tank against crime and criminality in Nigeria. Because there are no genuine avenues for collaborative intellectual adventure in crime and criminality, the pain in the neck keeps increasing. Some of them are rather involved in sharing security votes. We can work together to rout crime and criminality and free the country from the circus of kidnappers,” he said.
A legal practitioner, Mr. Don Akaegbu, said the incident might spell doom for the car dealer.
“It may be the end of Makinde. The security operatives may tell you they are investigating, and put him in chains.
“Nonetheless, he needs to show evidence that he is the owner of the car mart and that the cars were dutifully cleared from the port. In fact, he needs a lawyer to show the position of the law so that he can get bail.
“We know that kidnappers don’t usually collect money from their victims. They give them an account number, and ask them to transfer the money into the account. The car dealer’s account happens to be the one they collected and gave to their victim to transfer the money.
“However, his trouble is doubled if it happened that he gave them the N2.5m in cash because giving N2.5m in cash is already against the Money Laundering (Prohibition) Act. Even if conspiracy for kidnapping doesn’t catch him, that of the money laundering would certainly get him. Except he has money to buy his freedom from the security authorities’ net, he would be prosecuted.
“For me, the best thing for the car dealer to do is to buy his way out of the mess,” Akaegbu opined.
Asked to advise would-be victims of similar situations, the lawyer said: “My advise is to be sure who you are dealing with anytime somebody comes to you to ask for your bank account details. Although Nigerian law and decided authorities say that it is not actually a crime for somebody to use your bank account to receive money if the person’s account has challenges, but you have to verify what kind of transaction is in view.
“As in the car dealer’s circumstances, he should have verified to know who they are, and what they do for a living. So, people should be very careful when somebody is asking for cash in a transaction.
“One other problem is that most Nigerians don’t know the law, particularly businessmen. They don’t know that Money Laundering Act specifies a certain amount of money one can give in cash in exchange for a transaction.”
Akaegbu urged them to make sure they were abreast of Nigerian laws. He noted that many of them enter into trouble because of their ignorance of the law, not because they intend to commit a crime.
“Nigerians, particularly businessmen, should make efforts to know Nigeria laws,” he reiterated.
Calls to the Police PRO in Lagos State, DSP Bala Elkana, went unnswered neither did he return the calls.