Ogun police nab fraudster using fake Ooni’s Facebook

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By Olusola AJIBIKE (Abeokuta)

NIGERIA: THE police in Ogun State have arrested a 26-year-old man who claimed to be the Ooni of Ife, Oba Adeyeye Enitan Ogunwusi, to defraud innocent people.

The man, Abiodun Joseph, allegedly claimed to be the Ooni and collected N600, 000 from two Nigerian ladies who are based in the US, after promising them of royal marriage.

The Commissioner of Police, Ahmed Iliyasu, told journalists in Eleweran, Abeokuta while parading the suspect on Monday that Joseph opened a fake Facebook account with the name and picture of the Ooni, which he has been using to defraud unsuspecting people.

Iliyasu said that the bearded suspect was apprehended last Wednesday at Ilese in Ijebu North East Local Government area.

The police boss said that Joseph collected the money from the women through money transfer after he deceived them into marriage to become Oloris in the Ile-Ife palace of the first class traditional ruler.

He also said that the police got to know the activities of the suspect, who also used whatsapp accounts to dupe innocent people.

Iliyasu said: “On interrogation, he owned up to the crime and confessed that he has duped some people to the tune of N600,000.”

However, Joseph told GatewayMail that he opened the Facebook account in October last year with the intention of defrauding people.

The suspect confessed that he uploaded Oba Ogunwusi’s pictures which he picked from the Internet and used them on his Facebook account.

According to him, within the short period of time people mostly ladies began sending him requests with many compromising comments.

He further confessed that many ladies sent requests to him that they wanted to be his queen “Oloris” with the hope that he was a genuine Ooni.

“I opened the Facebook account in October last year purposefully for Internet scam,” he said, adding: “I knew that Ooni was popular that was why I uploaded his picture.”

Joseph also said: “Barely few days after I opened the Facebook account, many people, mostly ladies started to send me friend requests.  Many of them said I have good looks and they said they wanted to be my ‘Oloris.

“But in our chats, I told them that they have to pay some money if they are really interested in being my Oloris.”

He further stressed: “Two of them based in the United States of America sent some money totalling N600,000 to me through money transfer mode.”

“One sent N350,000 and the second one sent N250,000‎,” Joseph said, adding that one of the women even asked him to buy her a N45 million house.

According to him, he was in process of collecting N5 million from the woman before police arrested him last Wednesday.

“I regret my action, most especially using the name and pictures of the Ooni to perpetuate fraud, and sought for his forgiveness,” Joseph said.

Meanwhile, Iliyasu also paraded one suspected armed robber, Shakirudeen Shittu, who was nabbed at Ogijo by the combined team of Federal Special Anti-Robbery Squad and the Anti-Robbery team of the Ogijo Police Station.

According to him, the man was apprehended while on routine patrol at Eyinogbe-Isale in Ogijo.

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