Delta Community leader loses ₦5.4m to men who promised to make him ‘President-General’

• A group of suspected fraudsters took ₦5.4 million in exchange for getting a Delta community leader the position of ‘president-general’.

• One of the suspects confessed to manipulating his identity on the Truecaller app to appear as that of various government officials.

• The suspects were arrested and paraded by the Delta State Police on Tuesday.

The Delta State Police Command have arrested three suspects for defrauding a community leader in the Otu-Jeremi area of the state of N5.4 million under the pretext of securing a ‘president-general’ appointment in the community.

According to the statement released on X by the Delta State Police Command, the suspects, Aghogho Okpogbodu, Moses Exist, and Benjamin, scammed the community leader by impersonating the identities of George Akume, Secretary to the Government of the Federation, Onoriode Sunday, Director of Protocol to the Government of Delta State, and Prince Johnson Erijo, Chief of Staff to the Governor of Delta State, and even the identity of the Governor himself.

“In one of the cases, the suspects allegedly defrauded a community leader from Otu-Jeremi of the sum of ₦5,475,000 under the pretext of facilitating his appointment as President-General of his community,” the statement read.

In a public parade of the three suspects by Bright Edafe, spokesperson for the Delta State Police, Okpogbodu confessed to having impersonated Onoriode. He also explained that some friends helped him manipulate the Truecaller app so that his mobile number displayed the identity of the Director of Protocol whenever it was dialled.

Describing how he and his co-suspects pulled off the scam, he says:

“I told him (the community leader) that I wanted him to get the (position) of president-general, and I said he should send money to me.”

The police also said they discovered more incriminating evidence against the suspects while they searched their abode.

“A search of the suspects’ premises reportedly led to the recovery of seven mobile phones, 17 SIM cards, 12 ATM cards bearing different names, a Point-of-Sale terminal and documents containing financial and identification details belonging to various individuals,” the statement adds.

One of the victims of the syndicate also narrates how he escaped their net:

“I was in my house one evening when he called me. He said he was D.O.P to the state governor. He said he would take me to the governor as we were in the middle of a community leadership tussle. He said the governor would drink, so I should send money to buy kola and drinks.”

Describing how he figured out the scam, he says:

“The way he said he was D.O.P… The D.O.P that I know does not take money. That was when I knew the man was fake. So far, we have sent him over N4 million.”

By Akinjide Adebowale