Posted by By SEYE OJO, Ibadan on
Nemesis has caught up with two persons suspected to be fake telephone recharge card merchants in the ancient town of Iwo in Osun State.
Nemesis has caught up with two persons suspected to be fake telephone recharge card merchants in the ancient town of Iwo in Osun State.
Daily Sun gathered that the two persons, Mr. Adesina Abanise Lawal and Mr. Femi Balogun, aged 45 and 34 years respectively, stormed Iwo with no fewer than 64 fake credit cards at about 8:25pm on March 22 this year and were exchanging same with genuine ones from unsuspecting sellers of original cards before they were apprehended.
The two suspects, according to investigation, have been terrorizing Iwo for a long time with the circulation of fake cards, which was said to have engendered occasional hot dispute between the genuine merchants and their customers.
However, the last straw that broke the camel's back was the operation carried out by the two suspects independently at different areas of Iwo town on March 22, 2008.
The Chairman, Association of GSM Communications, Iwo Chapter, Mr. Muritala Adisa, told Daily Sun that he received a call that one thief was operating in the shop of one of the association's member, Mr. Basiru Sarafa (a.k.a Isekolowo) at Kajola area of Iwo and he quickly went to the place, saying that when he got to the scene, he met teeming crowd in front of the shop who gathered round the suspected thief.
Fielding questions on the development in Iwo, Mr. Basiru Sarafa, disclosed that a man named Adesina Abanise Lawal came to his shop at about 8:25pm and requested for three Glo credit cards of N500 each.
His words: "I gave the three credit cards worth N1,500 to him and the man put the cards in his pocket. He then dipped his hand into another pocket and brought out three N20 notes. He wanted to give the notes to me and I told him that my money was N1,500 and not N60.
"At this point, he looked at the notes again and apologized to me that he thought he brought out three N500 notes. He then said that he would not be able to buy the cards again because the money he had would not be enough to pay for the cards.
"So, as I was looking at him with keen interest and premonition that the man was up to something, he dipped his hand into another pocket different from the one he put the cards I gave him and brought out three Glo cards. Immediately I collected them from him, I noticed that the cards were not the ones I gave him.
"But, he insisted that the three cards he gave me were the ones I gave him. This made me to raise alarm and the people that were around my shop came over to know what was happening. After a hot argument, I requested that the man's body be searched but he blindly refused, and the people around forcefully searched his body. In the process, fake Glo and MTN credit cards were brought out from his pockets including the cards I initially gave to him.
"It was at this stage that the man came down and confessed that he was in possession of fake recharge cards. Then, we called photographer to snap him with the fake cards after which we took him to Iwo Police Station. He confessed to the police in our presence that he was not the only one that came to transact the nefarious business in Iwo. He said that he came with his boss, named Mr. Femi Balogun, who was also exchanging fake credit cards at Odo-Ori, which is another area of the town.
"We went together with the policemen to Odo-ori and when we got there, Lawal showed us a Peugeout 405 with registration number LAGOS GJ 882 KJA where it was parked but there was nobody inside. Then, we hanged around and after about 15 minutes, the second suspect arrived. As he was about to open the door of the car, he was arrested.
"The car was searched and inside the roof, the police recovered many fake recharge cards of MTN, Glo, Celtel, Multilinks and many others. Thereafter, the two suspects were taken to Iwo police Station with the car," Sarafa stated.
While saying that the two accused persons claimed to have come from Ibadan, the capital of Oyo State to execute the business, the Chairman, Association of GSM Communications, Iwo Chapter, Mr. Muritala Adisa revealed that there have been several moves from some powerful forces to settle the case outside the law, stresing that the association would ensure that justice is done so that it would serve as deterrent to other fake merchants to stay clear from Iwo.
Meanwhile, the suspects have since been charged to court.