By Christopher Orji
It was the end of the road for 48-year-old Taiwo Abdulrauf, who specialised in luring ladies into opening bank accounts which he used to receive proceeds of fraud, following his arrest by the police.
Abdulrauf was paraded yesterday, alongside other suspected criminals who have been terrorising Lagos State. His modus operandi included asking the ladies out and, in the process, compelling them to open bank accounts, which he allegedly used to receive proceeds of internet fraud.
Commissioner of Police, Lagos State Police Command, Abiodun Alabi, who paraded the suspects at the Command headquarters, Ikeja, disclosed that N20 million was traced to different accounts he used.
Alabi said: “After a complaint was received about the suspect, he was traced to a hotel in Ogun State, where he was arrested and one unregistered Toyota Avalon car, which he bought with the proceeds of the fraud, was recovered from him.”
He stated that efforts were still ongoing to recover more stolen money from the suspect, adding that the suspect would be charged to court on completion of investigation.
Also paraded was one Smart Richard, an ex-convict, who was arrested for allegedly sending random threat messages to people, in order to blackmail and extort them. Several people who received the threat messages thronged the command, recently, informing that the sender in his text message claimed they were being monitored.
Policemen attached to the CP’s Special Squad were directed to unmask the sender, consequent upon which Richard was arrested and discovered to be working with a colleague of his who is still serving a five-year jail term at the Kirikiri Medium Correctional Centre, Lagos.
While Smart collated some telephone numbers with which he operated an online wallet account, in which the blackmail money is paid into, his associate at the Kirikiri Correctional Centre, Kingsley Richard, would reach out to the people on phone, as well as send threat text messages. The Command boss said detectives were working with the Nigerian Correction Service to extend investigations to the prison.
Also paraded were two Naval Ratings: Seaman Nnamani, 28, and Onyekachi Egwin, 27, who were alleged to have murdered an Assistant Superintendent of Police, Abiona Hezekiah, during a scuffle in the Satellite area of the state, recently.
Also, three suspected members of a robbery gang: Olayinka Micheal, 35; Jamiu Abdulraman, 27 and Daniel John, 27, who broke into a warehouse in the Ikotun area of Lagos, recently, were paraded.
All suspects, according to the CP, would be charged to court.
