SSS Nabs Notorious Fraudsters In PHk

The State Security Service (SSS) in Rivers State has apprehended a gang of fraudsters who go about impersonating top federal functionaries as they defraud their victims of huge sums of money within the region.

Parading the suspects before newsmen yesterday in Port Harcourt, State Director of SSS, Mr Olusegun Agbaje disclosed that the security agency had been on their trail since November until their apprehension on December 2.

The suspects, Amil Ayekimo Avery from Bayelsa and Mohammed Ogwurude from Benue were arrested while attempting to defraud the Managing Director of Diamond Bank, Dr Alex Otti of the sum of N40 million. The ring leader Tony Allagoa is still at large.

According to the Rivers SSS Chief, the trio usually posed as aides to the Secretary to the Government of the Federation (SGF) in order to defraud their victims.

At one point, according to Mr Agbaje, the suspects posed as the SGF and convinced Dr Otti to pay N40 million into their two separate accounts in Bank PHB (now Keystone Bank) and GT Bank in order to assist him and his bank with business in view of their closeness  to the President.

Investigations further revealed that the same gang had used the name of the Chief of Staff to the President, Chief Mike Oghiadome between December 2010 to March 2011 to defraud prominent Nigerians in the South-West of huge sums of money.

The SSS Director assured that efforts were being intensified to apprehend Allagoa, Nnamdi Maurice and Charles Bendo who are all members of the gang.

Similarly, another suspect, Mr Efe Roberts Omojefe, who had been impersonating and claiming to be the Protocol Officer to the SGF was apprehended at the office of the new Managing Director of the Niger Delta Development Commission (NDDC).

Mr Omojefe in the guise of holding business meetings for his boss met with unsuspecting contractors at Abuloma to raise money to organise a welcome party for the new NDDC boss.

Meanwhile, the suspects denied being fraudsters. Mr Avery told reporters that he was an oil businessman with specialty in dry plants but had met Allagoa now at large who tricked him into the business. He stated that at one instance Allagoa directed him to receive a parcel for him from a friend at the point he was arrested.

Also Ogwurude claimed that he was being used by the group to withdraw money from the bank. His account, according to him, was used as a conduit to move about N8million from their victims as he stated that he was never their member but a sailor and a friend to one of them.

On his part, Omojefe told reporters that he was a graduate and contractor and friend to the NDDC boss. The day he was arrested he claimed to have gone to meet the new NDDC boss for financial assistance.