N24m Extortion: Police Arrest 7, Uncover Fraudsters’ 125-Man Target List

Operatives of the Anti-Kidnapping Unit of the Lagos State Police Command have arrested seven suspected members of two fraud syndicates allegedly targeting successful businessmen and women across major markets in Lagos State.

The suspects, who described themselves as “local 419”, allegedly used fake business transactions, bogus investment opportunities, dollar-washing schemes and other confidence tricks to defraud their victims of millions of naira.

Police source who revealed to LEADERSHIP,  said one of the syndicates had compiled the names and details of more than 125 business operators across different markets in Lagos who were allegedly being targeted.

According to the police, the syndicates operated from bases in Ogun State while identifying prospective victims in major Lagos markets, including Oshodi, Arena, Idumota, Alaba International Market and Trade Fair.

The suspects allegedly went beyond fraud in some instances, with the police accusing members of one of the syndicates of luring a tyre merchant to the Aiyetoro-Itele area of Ogun State, where he was allegedly held captive until about N24 million was paid before his release.

The bubble reportedly burst when members of the Anti-Kidnapping Unit swooped on the syndicate after some of its members allegedly lured a cloth seller to the Ayobo area of Lagos, leading to the arrest of three suspects.

A police source said the two groups used different methods but shared a common strategy: identifying traders and other individuals considered financially capable, gaining their confidence, and defrauding them.

“The two groups use different tactics, but their mode of operation is that they target prospective investors or traders but end up defrauding them in the process,” the source said.

One of the suspects, 61-year-old Patrick Nwankwo, an indigene of Imo State, said he joined the syndicate after his second-hand clothing business collapsed.

“I was into second-hand cloth selling at the popular Katangua Market. At one time, the business failed, and at that time, I lost my wife. I used the little money that was remaining with me to bury my late wife,” he said.

Nwankwo said he subsequently became a “caller”, whose responsibility was to identify and initiate contact with potential victims.

“I started as a ‘caller’. A caller is a person who goes out to identify and speak with our prospective victims. We identify businessmen. After that, we lied to them, saying someone needed a large supply of a particular commodity and asking them to supply it. We usually use bicycle spare parts as the needed commodity.

“Another member of the gang will serve as the receiver. Once they supply those items to him, we will disappear from that address,” he said.

He disclosed that the syndicate’s base was in Ogun State, while its targets were traders operating in some of Lagos’ busiest commercial centres.

“Our base is in Ogun State, but we target businessmen at popular markets, including Oshodi, Arena, Idumota, Alaba, and Trade Fair Market. We already have our target and what they sell,” Nwankwo said.

While disclosing how the syndicate managed to convince its victims, he said their desperation to make quick money made them vulnerable.

“We don’t pray for gullible people to finish. Gullible people cannot finish in Nigeria. They want to get very rich quick, and we take advantage of that,” he said.

Another suspect, 60-year-old Emeka Obi, said he previously worked as a “caller” but had stopped due to his age.

“I used to be a caller, but now I am old. I only allow them to use my office for their operations, and I get only 10 per cent of whatever they get from their victims,” he said.

Obi said he had also been introduced into fraud after allegedly losing money to another syndicate.

“I was operating a drug store, but I was duped by a gang. When I got back to the same people who duped me, they asked me to join them, and I did.

“After serving my boss for six years and having my own shop, somebody told me that they had drugs in large quantities, but when I got to where I was to get the drugs, I saw a large quantity of American dollars. I didn’t know that they were fake. I was asked to deposit the N400,000 that was with me. That was a large amount of money then in 1990,” he said.

He added, “Initially, after collecting my money, they ran away, but after they came back, I asked to join them, and since then I have made more than the N400,000 that I lost to them.”

Also, Forty-seven-year-old Charles Okeke, another suspect, said he joined the fraud business after allegedly being abandoned in Ghana by a man who had promised to facilitate his travel to Europe or the United States.

“I joined in 2018, when I was duped while trying to travel out. I was taken to Ghana. Mr Eze took me to Ghana and abandoned me there. He promised to take me to Europe or America but abandoned me in Ghana,” he said.

According to Okeke, he resorted to shoemaking in Ghana but struggled financially before he was introduced to fraud.

“I started looking for something to do. I met some Nigerians. I was doing shoemaking and the money was nothing to write home about. I met a boy, Chukwudi, and a Ghanaian, Jojome. They invited me to join them, and we duped people under the guise of washing money for them.

“They lured them with gold. We could not make enough money. Later, my mother died, and I had to come back to Nigeria for her burial. When I came back, and my family saw my situation, they advised that I should not return to Ghana. They said that I was not doing well. They complained about me not making enough.

“Because of hardship, my wife left with my two children. It was while I was looking for what to do that I met Emeka through one of our town brothers, who was also into the fraud business but had quit,” he said.

Another suspect, 53-year-old Emmanuel Ekenta, an indigene of Awka, Anambra State, said he was previously a successful businessman involved in exporting goods to Ghana before he was allegedly defrauded in Togo.

“I was a successful businessman. I was exporting plates to Ghana then, and I was doing well. The problem started when I was duped at the Togo border. Ghana people and Igbo people duped me. They lied to me that they wanted to wash dollars for me in 2006,” he said.

Ekenta said he later requested to join the fraudsters and was introduced to their boss in Lagos.

“After I was duped, I requested to join them, and they directed me to their boss in Lagos. He is the one who taught me how to dupe. Taiye and I worked with him for six years,” he said.

He explained that the syndicate operated through a carefully arranged process involving different members playing specific roles.

“What we do is that one of us, usually the catcher, will pose as a sailor and a foreigner who just arrived in Lagos with goods for sale. We then tell our prospective victim that she would make huge money by selling these non-existent goods.

“After agreeing to sell the goods, the catcher will pretend to take them to the place where the goods are kept but instead take them to our base, where we introduce them to the dollar-washing business.

“It is a normal thing to tell them that we have dollars, but we need chemicals to wash them. They will be asked to pay for the chemicals. That is how we collect money from them.

“There is usually the ‘sitter’, who usually sits at our base. He would corroborate whatever the ‘catcher’ already told the victims. He would lie to them. He would pretend to be the younger brother of the customs officer that cleared the goods,” Ekenta said.

Forty-six-year-old Uchenna Paul, a former foodstuff seller, also claimed that he joined the group after allegedly losing his master’s money while he was sent from Abia State to Lagos to purchase stockfish.

The Lagos State Police Command confirmed the arrest of the suspects.

The command’s spokesperson, Abimbola Adebisi, reiterated the resolve of the Commissioner of Police, CP Fatai Tijani, to make Lagos State uninhabitable for criminals, assuring residents that the police would continue to intensify efforts to dismantle criminal networks operating across the state.

According to the police, the arrests have provided investigators with further information on the activities of the syndicates, including their methods of identifying potential victims and the roles allegedly played by different members of the groups.