Police smash fraudster syndicates, uncover 125 traders on hit list

… How I became a ‘local 419’ – 61-yr-old suspect

For years, they moved through some of Lagos’ busiest commercial centres, looking like ordinary businessmen, traders and customers.

But behind the seemingly innocent appearances, the police alleged, were members of two fraud syndicates, quietly identifying successful business owners, studying what they sold and preparing elaborate schemes to fleece them of their hard-earned money.

Their targets were traders and business operators in markets, including Oshodi, Arena, Idumota, Alaba International and Trade Fair, among others.

Bubble burst

Operatives of the Anti-Kidnapping Unit of the Lagos State Police Command, led by CSP Sunday Cirman, arrested seven suspected members of the syndicates accused of defrauding business operators through carefully planned confidence tricks.

The police also uncovered a chilling list containing the names of more than 125 business operators allegedly pencilled down as potential victims by one of the gangs.

More disturbing was the allegation that some members of the syndicates went beyond fraud, allegedly abducting selected business operators and demanding ransom before releasing them.

One of the alleged victims, according to the police, was a tyre merchant who was reportedly lured to Aiyetoro-Itele area of Ogun state where he was held captive until about N24 million was allegedly paid before his release.

The syndicates’ operations eventually came under police scrutiny after another business operator, a cloth seller, was allegedly lured to the Ayobo area of Lagos.

‘How we identify our victims’

Operatives of the Anti-Kidnapping Unit reportedly swooped on the suspects and arrested three members of one of the groups in the process.

The arrests revealed the sophisticated methods allegedly employed by the suspects. The personal stories of some of the suspects claimed that hardship and their own experiences as victims of fraud pushed them into the criminal enterprise.

One of them, a 61-year-old Patrick Nwankwo, an indigene of Imo state, described himself as a “local 419” while narrating how the collapse of his second-hand clothing business allegedly changed the direction of his life.

Nwankwo said he was previously a trader at the popular Katangua Market, but things went downhill when his business failed.

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

With little left to rebuild his life, Nwankwo said he eventually entered the fraud business.

He said his first role was that of a “caller,” a member of the syndicate responsible for identifying potential victims and initiating contact with them.

According to him, members of the gang would identify businessmen and approach them with apparently attractive business opportunities.

“We identify businessmen. After this, we lied to them that someone was in need of a large supply of a particular commodity and asked them to supply.

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

Nwankwo revealed that the gang’s base was in Ogun state but that its members regularly travelled to major Lagos markets, including Oshodi, Arena, Idumota, Alaba and Trade Fair Market in search of prospective victims.”

Asked how the syndicate managed to convince people to part with their money or goods, Nwankwo offered a disturbing explanation.

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

Fraudster’s disclosure

Another suspect, 60-year-old Emeka Obi, said he was a former “caller” but that he had withdrawn from the field operations as a result of age.

Obi allegedly allowed the syndicate to use his office as an operational base and claimed he received 10 per cent of whatever was obtained from victims. His journey into the criminal world, he claimed, also began after he was defrauded.

“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,” he said. Obi said that after working for his alleged “boss” for six years, he eventually opened his own shop.

He recalled an incident in 1990 when he was allegedly deceived by people who promised to supply him with drugs: “When I got to where I was to get the drugs, I saw a large quantity of American dollars.

I didn’t know whether they were fake or not. I was asked to deposit the N400, 000 that was with me. That was a large sum of money then in 1990,” he said.

According to him, the fraudsters initially disappeared with his money but later returned. Rather than report them, Obi said he requested to join them.

“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,” he said.

‘I had no option’

For 47-year-old Charles Okeke, a former shoemaker from Aba, Abia state, who hails from Imo state, the journey allegedly started after a failed attempt to travel abroad.

Okeke said he joined the criminal trade in 2018 after he was allegedly deceived by a man who promised to facilitate his journey to Europe or America.

“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. I was frustrated with life,” he said.

With no meaningful source of income in Ghana, Okeke returned to shoemaking but said the earnings were insufficient. He later met a Nigerian identified as Chukwudi and a Ghanaian, Jojome, who allegedly introduced him to fraud. His circumstances, he added, became worse after the death of his mother.

“When I came back and my family saw my situation, they advised me that I should not return to Ghana. They said that I was not doing well,” he said. He said his wife eventually left him with their two children because of the hardship.

Another suspect, 53-year-old Emmanuel Ekenta, an indigene of Awka, Anambra state, also claimed that he was once a successful businessman before falling victim to fraud.

Ekenta said he was exporting plates to Ghana and doing well until he was allegedly defrauded at the Togo border. “The problem started when I was duped at the Togo border,” he said. He alleged that he was deceived in 2006 through a scheme involving “washing” American dollars.

Rather than walk away from the experience, Ekenta said he eventually asked to join the people who allegedly defrauded him and he subsequently worked with the alleged gang leader identified as Taiye for six years.

How did they operate? According to him, one member known as the “catcher” would pose as a sailor or foreigner who had just arrived in Lagos with goods supposedly available for sale.

The victim would then be convinced that there was an opportunity to make substantial profit by selling the imaginary goods. After gaining the victim’s confidence, the “catcher” would allegedly pretend to take the person to where the goods were stored.

Instead, Ekenta alleged, the victim would be taken to the gang’s base, where another stage of the deception would begin.

“They would introduce them to the dollar washing business. It is the normal thing of telling them that we have dollars but we need chemicals to wash it. They will be asked to pay for the chemical. That is how we collect money from them,” he said.

The syndicate, he added, allegedly operated with different characters assigned specific responsibilities.

For the police, investigators believe the suspects allegedly researched their victims, identified their businesses and tailored their schemes to exploit their financial ambitions.

The Lagos State Police Command’s image maker, Abimbola Adebisi, confirmed the arrest of the suspects. She reiterated the resolve of the CP, CP Tijani Fatai, to make Lagos increasingly hostile to criminals and strengthen security across the state.