Fraudsters now kidnap victims, collect ATM cards

Suspect

Standing close to some brand new house hold appliances that were 
displayed at the Lagos State Police Command, Thursday , was a man with stitches on his fore head. On close observation, he was discovered to be sobbing, as he cleaned his face intermittently with his palm, to hide the tears from prying eyes. 

 The inquisitive characteristic of every journalist attracted this reporter who approached him as he bent his head and shook it in self pity . After a long wait for him   to be emotionally stabilized to speak with Crime Guard, he slowly raised his head   and asked, as if in response to the question of this reporter “ You want to find out why I am a guest here?”, a question that got this reporter nodding in affirmation.

was paraded alongside 42 other suspected   robbers who have been terrorising the state, followed his alleged involvement in a kidnap saga. Ajose and   other fleeing members of the gang according to the Police, allegedly   abducted a lady at Iyana Ipaja area of   Lagos state.   On getting to their hideout somewhere around Egbeda, they reportedly held their victim hostage, collected her   ATM card with which they   withdrew N100,000 cash from a nearby bank.

Apparently tempted with the balance, the suspects went ahead to purchase some     household appliances worth N400,000   from a mall, after which she was released. However in this interview with 31-year-old Ajose, he denied being a kidnapper. Rather, he stated that he was a fraudster, popularly known as 419.

Modus oparandi

He revealed that a new means has been introduced into the crime. According to him, before now, victims were hypnotized and dispossessed of cash and valuables. But over time, he said such method had not be working as Nigerians were aware of their tricks. The new device he said, was to collect ATM from any gullible and greedy   victim and withdraw cash to the lowest fraction before releasing them. But he stated emphatically that   charms were not used in this new devise, saying “ we use ‘sense’”. .

Effort to save ailing pregnant wife

He blamed his indulgence on his inability to meet with the medical bills of his pregnant wife, a constraint which he said led to her death and that of the baby last week. Lamenting in tears, he said : “Never in my life did I   envisage going into anything shady. I am a cobbler and have been living with my family within my means until my wife got pregnant for our second child. She managed to register for anti-natal when the pregnancy was about five months. To my shock, the doctor announced that she would have to deliver the baby through caesarian. That was the beginning of my doom because I was asked to pay N80,000. I could not raise N1,000 let alone N80,000.

Business was not moving as the demand for shoes dropped drastically.   She had to hold on even when the date given to her to come to the hospital for the surgery   had passed, with the hope that I would be able to raise money”.

Fraud to the rescue?

In his search for the amount, he said he approached a friend, Wasiu, for a loan which turned out to be his greatest undoing as he claimed to have rather been introduced into 419 . “Wasiu introduced me into   419,with the assurance that I could raise the money. Our first target was a lady. On that day, Wasiu, Friday and I approached this lady at Iyana Ipaja. We told her we had some goods to sell and that we would need her to help us count the money, at the end of which we promised to pay her N100,000, including a Black Berry phone.

She followed us to a place where we brought out some papers and a white handkerchief. Along the line, the materials changed into sixty pieces of N1000 notes. She asked how she could get same chemical and we told her to go get some money.   She later came with an ATM card which she claimed was her mum’s”. Asked how possible it was to convince her without being hypnotized, he maintained that “ we did not use charm . It is just   brain work”.

Continuing, he said :”We kept her in the house , went to withdraw   N100,000 from the bank, having been given the pin number. There after we went to buy these items (pointing to the displayed appliances) using POS . When we came back, we told her we had finished the process that she should go back home and drink some water and thereafter wait until 8pm when     she would receive alert of over N5m”. But that was never to be as realisation later dawned on the lady that she had been duped. The household appliances purchased   included ; three water dispensers, three standing fans, three bags of rice, children toy bicycles,   four sets of steel cooking pots among others.

However, while the suspects took their portions of the appliances to their respective homes, operatives of the Special Anti-Robbery Squad who were alerted on the incident went on their trail. Through what was described as cutting edge technology ,   Ajose was arrested while his partners in crime who got wind of police presence managed to escape. But only his loot and those of Wasiu were recovered while the third suspect as gathered, fled with his. The suspects according to the Commissioner of Police, Lagos State Police Command, Fatai Owoseni would be charged to court.