A Coalition of Civil Society Organisations has commended the chairman of the Economic and Financial Crimes Commission (EFCC), Mr. Ola Olukoyede, for serving justice for the late Kenneth Ogbogu by prosecuting Sylvanus Enonche Oko for impersonation, identity theft, forgery, unlawful land grabbing, and other financial offences.
The groups, who made the commendation included Youths Off The Street Initiative (YOTSI), National Youth Assembly of Nigeria, Informal Sector and Unemployed Youths Association of Nigeria, and Southern Nigeria Youth Congress.
The groups urged the EFCC to fully investigate the matter and ensure justice is fully served for the families and associates of the deceased.
Founder of YOTSI and humanitarian activist, Kennedy Iyere, explained that Ogbogu had died in a motor accident in 2012, leaving behind his family and a company, K.E Keneco Nig. Limited, which he had registered with the Corporate Affairs Commission (CAC)
However, Oko allegedly impersonated Ogbogu and took unlawful possession of the properties and assets.
He said: “Before his sudden demise, Ogbogu registered company with the CAC known as , K.E Keneco Nig. Limited, a feat he was able to achieve, through the help of a partner and stakeholder, who believed in him, and invested huge funds in his company for the acquisition of properties, among other assets. But the partnership was short-lived, as Ogbogu was met with sudden death.
“Not too long after his demise, one certain Sylvanus Enonche Oko decided to fraudulently exploit the unfortunate situation to impersonate the dead by parading himself as Kenneth Ogbogu, thus committing a heinous crime of multi-level identity theft, all in the efforts to criminally take unlawful possession of the landed properties and other assets of the late Kenneth Ogbogu. He actually succeeded with his evil enterprise through the failure and connivance of some public agencies, which aided his crimes of impersonation and identity theft, forgery, and other related offences.
“Sylvanus Enonche Oko, who is an indigene of Benue and idoma by tribe, had over the past years changed his name to Kenneth Ogbogu, who was a native of Anambra State, thus enabling him to distort and compromise the records of the late Kenneth Ogbogu and his Company at the CAC and AGIS. With this unfortunate development, Sylvanus Enonche Oko succeeded edging out the partner and key stakeholder who invested his funds in the properties acquired by K.E Keneco Nig. Limited before the death of Kenneth Ogbogu.
“As at today, some of those properties, have been unlawfully grabbed and fraudulently sold by Sylvanus Enonche Oko, at the detriment of the third party investor, whose duty it is to safeguard his investment and the legacies of K.E Keneco Nig. Limited.”
Iyere added that through the help of the EFCC, Oko has been nabbed and put in custody but assured the agency of support in ensuring justice is served.
“The EFCC’s actions have proven that public agencies can still be trusted in Nigeria to deliver on their goals.”
Iyere added that other heads of public agencies should emulate Olukoyede’s leadership to enforce dutifulness and accountability in public service delivery in Nigeria.
