Two suspected fraudsters, Ibraheem Balogun and Adeyinka Adebola, have told the police in Lagos that they had been defrauding unsuspecting Nigerians for more than 10 years.Balogun and Adebola were arrested on Tuesday by the Zonal Intervention Squad (ZIS) of the Zone II Police Command, on the way to their shrine at Abule Titun in Obafemi Owodem Local Government Area of Ogun State. The squad led CSP Gbenga Megbope, also rescued a 64-year-old nurse, Goodluck Ogbodu, at the shrine. It was learnt that Balogun, who lives at Ugheli with the nurse, lured the victim from Delta State to their shrine to help him find a lasting solution to his back pain. But the suspects later defrauded Ogbodu of N200,000.
It was learnt that the police had been on the trail of the suspected kidnappers cum fraudsters before they were arrested when they were taking Ogbodu to their shrine. Ogbodu, who thanked the police for saving his life from the kidnappers’ shrine, described the operation as a divine intervention.
He said: “I know the leader of the gang, Ibraheem Balogun, at Ugheli, Delta State. He used to come to my house for medical check-ups. Whenever he comes, I don’t collect money from him. He was staying opposite my house.” Ogbodu added that when the back pain was becoming unbearable for him, Balogun said he had some herbal mixture that could relieve him of his pains. He said: “Balogun said I should come with N200, 000 to meet his boss. I left Ugheli for Lagos, I was told to stop at the Redeemed Christian Church of God (RCCG) Camp (Redemption Camp) that he would bring a car to come and pick me.” The victim said, when the suspect came there was no vehicle at the Redemption Camp so they had to take a motorcycle to Obafemi Owode roundabout from where another member of the gang, Adebola, came to pick them. Balogun, a father of three, confessed to the crime.
The suspect claimed that they had wanted to dupe the victim but denied being a kidnapper. He said: “At this point, I don’t need to lie to you again. I am a traditional doctor but we wanted to dupe the man, when we were arrested. I have never killed for ritual in my life.
- “I started this job 10 years ago. We are only looking for what we wanted to eat. We don’t kill our victims.
We only collect money from them and release after duping them.” Also, Adebola confessed to be a member of the syndicate but denied that they wanted to use the victim for ritual. He said: “I was a former film producer but I became a traditional doctor, when things were not going well. I have been duping people for over 10 years.” When contacted, the Zone II Public Relations Officer, SP Dolapo Badmos, confirmed the arrest.
