Olawumi Oladayo (25) and Chibuzor Ekesi (22)
have been arrested by the Special Anti-
Robbery Squad (SARS), Ibadan, in Oyo State
Police Command during an attempt to use
fake bank transaction to purchase a car.
Crime Reports learnt that the two suspects
went to a car stand at Ring Road area of
Ibadan at about 11.30 a.m. on Friday,
December 12, 2014 to negotiate the cost of a
Crosstour car.
According to the car dealer (names withheld)
Oladayo and Ekesi said they wanted to
purchase the car on behalf of their father.
The dealer said:
“I looked at them and felt they could not
have had enough money to purchase the car
they pointed at. The car was the most
expensive I had at my car stand and
had only 3,000 mileage. The selling price was
N4.5 million.“I told them that I would like to
see their father and they asked if I would
like to speak with him on phone. They called
someone who claimed to be the father and he
asked me to go ahead and sell the car to
them. I wondered how someone would want to
buy a car he had not seen or test-drive, but
the man said he was comfortable with their
judgement.
“The two boys said that they had cash on
them, showing me a bag they were carrying. I
noticed that the bag did not have the shape
of one with cash and when I touched it, it
was soft, so I refused. They promised to pay
into my account. They asked me to fill the
tank of the car before they would return but
I said that it was the responsibility of buyers
to do that after payment.
“However, I was not comfortable with them so
I alerted the police.”
The suspects did not deny the allegation.
According to Oladayo who is from Orile-Owu,
Osun State,
“I have HND in Civil engineering. I finished
in 2011 and served in Lagos state in 2012. I
worked briefly with the company I served
with but left when it had no contract. I live
with my mother in Ibadan.
“I went with my friend to negotiate the price
of a car at a dealer’s car stand. My friend
had already told me how we would send a
fake bank alert to get the car. I wanted to
know how he would do it and it would work.
When we got to the car, he demonstrated the
way he would do the sms alert and on our
way from the place, I told him I would not be
able to do it because the people would
recognize my face.
“We were called back by the dealer and they
asked if we were still interested in buying
the car. They asked us to test-drive it and
while we were waiting, SARS operatives came
to arrest us.”
Oladayo claimed that he recently met the
other suspect. “This is my first outing with
him,” he said.
Oladayo said he decided to join his friend
because of financial constraints he had.
“I bought an old Toyota Hilux from the
company I served with but later sold it for
N600,000. I lent a friend the money for a
business so that he could share the profit
with me. Unknown to me, the friend used the
money for betting and lost.”
In his own confession, Ekesi (22), an
undergraduate in university in
the eastern part of Nigeria revealed
“I learnt how to send fake alert through one
of my friends based in Owerri. His name is
Obiyor Mark a.k.a. Abebe. Sometimes in 2013,
he came to visit his friend at my former
hostel. I used to chat with him sometimes and
in the process, he introduced the idea of
using fake alert to purchase cars to me and I
bought the idea because things were hard for
me. Abebe had once been apprehended by the
police.”
Ekesi also confirmed that he was once
arrested for the same offence.
According to
him,
“I was at arrested by Surulere Division in
Lagos. What happened was that I defrauded
a man through a fake bank alert. I got his
number from a newspaper and called him. We
dialogued on phone. I sent N6.5 million alert
on a Friday and the following day, on a
Saturday, I sent someone to the delivery
address I gave the dealer to pick the car. I
promised to give my friend 10 per cent of the
proceeds after I must have sold the car.“We
took the car to Owerri and it was given to
Abebe to get a buyer. Unfortunately, my
friend used my sim card to call his girlfriend
while I was asleep and she was arrested. The
lady led the police to my friend and they got
information about me. The police came to
arrest me and I was detained for two and
half months in Lagos. I was granted bail but
was re-arrested and transferred to Abuja. I
was granted bail again in September.”
So why did he decide to repeat what led to
his incarceration for seven months?
“I don’t know what pushed me,” the young
man replied.
He disclosed that he met his alleged
partner-in-crime, Oladayo, through his
secondary school friend.
“We were chatting and I related my past
experiences to him. I also sold the idea of
getting cars through fake alert to him and
he agreed to it,” Ekesi said.
“There is a bulk sms panel called sms life which I
subscribed to. This is what I use to send alert to
bank accounts given to me.”
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