Fake Superintendent of Customs in police net

For 63-year-old Ramoni Raji, alias Yakubu Lawal, who has been parading himself as a Chief Superintendent of Customs (CSC), defrauding unsuspecting Nigerians of millions of naira, it is the end of the road in his criminal adventure.

Raji who was recently arrested by the Special Anti-Robbery Squad (SARS), of the Lagos State Police Command, confessed that he has duped lots of people including an Assistant Director of the National Agency for Food and Drug Administration and Control (NAFDAC), whom he defrauded of the sum of N1.4 million.

Raji's albatross came when he duped a woman, one Mrs Uche, of the sum of N800,000, with the promise that he was in charge of the Custom's vehicles auctions.

When the woman realised she has been defrauded, she wrote a petition to the Lagos Police Commissioner, Kayode Aderanti, who mandated his men to make sure Raji is brought to book.

Incindentally, according to the police, Raji was once arrested in 2013 for the same offence and once he was released, he went back to the trade.

The fake customs officer confessed thus:

"I have duped many people. In Ilorin, I promised to give about 600 bags of rice for N3.5 million to a victim, but I did not.

In Abuja, I did a scam of N4.2 million. I duped an assistant director, Operations, NAFDAC by promising a car I did not supply.

The director gave me N1.4 million.

I’m not a Customs officer. I decided on my own to buy Customs uniform and use it for business.

I bought the uniform at Customs Training School, Ikeja. I bought it from Customs’ tailor for N5,000 with all the kits. The tailor did not know I was a fraud.

I was once arrested by policemen at Zone II, Onikan in 2013, for a similar offence. I was released on bail on January 5, 2013.

The police did not take me to court because court could not sit."

Raji who says he has three wives and nine children, also confessed to going about with two different ranks and using names like Shitu Musa whenever he wore the rank of a Chief Superintendent of Customs and Yakubu Lawal whenever he wore the rank of Deputy Superintendent of Customs.

The police said:

"Raji used to tell his victims that he is the Customs officer in charge of auctioning.

He used to take his victims to Apapa Wharf and Tin Can Island Ports to show them goods and vehicles allegedly meant for auctioning.

He and his gang duped Mrs Uche, a businesswoman of N800,000 with a promise to give her Toyota Highlander ‘Jeep’. The woman paid the money through the First Bank account of a member of the gang called Galadima."