Posted by By Juliana francis on
But for the timely intervention of operatives of the Economic and Financial Crimes Commission (EFCC), a woman would have lost more than the N9.2 million collected from her by fraudsters in Ogun State.
But for the timely intervention of operatives of the Economic and Financial Crimes Commission (EFCC), a woman would have lost more than the N9.2 million collected from her by fraudsters in Ogun State.
The woman, who wished to remain anonymous, was convinced by the appearances and disappearances of some " white witches" to part with over N9.2 million, the bulk of which was sent from overseas by her caring daughter.
EFCC operatives, after a thorough investigation, discovered that the whole scam to get the woman to lower her guards was orchestrated by three suspected fraudsters identified as Kehinde Ibitoye 43, a.k.a Oluwo, Jimoh Kamilu, 35, a.k.a Bayo Olajuwo and Gabriel Oguniyi a.k.a Babafemi.
The fraudsters were said to have started milking her since 2004 but deliverance came when she suddenly felt she was in the hands of con men and had alerted EFCC.
Daily Sun learnt that the complainant had told a friend that her business was in bad shape and she believed she needed spiritual help. Her friend, who had once visited Oguniyi, a known herbalist told her that she once had a problem but was assisted by him. She took the woman to Oguniyi.
While trying to ostensibly help with her failing business, the fraudster took her to a shrine in Ogun State, where through pipes planted under ground and a talking drum, she was asked to carry out certain spiritual sacrifices to save her business and also the job of her daughter in London, who the "gods" had revealed to them would soon be sacked. In every payment she made, she also paid for her absent daughter.
The men were further said to have told her to expect a visitor with a big bag in her restaurant. They cautioned her to be careful so that she would not miss the visitor. This strange visitor would bring her the luck she and her daughter sought. The visitor who came was later discovered to be one of their partners. They had also told her to ensure she convinced the man to follow her to the shrine. When she saw a man entering her shop, she became suddenly nice to him and allowed him to eat everything free of charge. She apparently convinced the man to follow her to the shrine.
When they got to the shrine, for no apparent reasons, the man fell down and feigned madness. The " witches" claimed that the man's bag was filled with stolen money from his master. The " witches" told the woman that she and her daughter would soon be afflicted with madness like the man, except she buys a horse belonging to a prominent traditional leader and cough out N500,000.
The man who they took her to, cured the visitor, later identified to be Kamilu. They told her that except she carried out the sacrifices all her generation would further be afflicted with insanity.
Kamilu demanded more millions, which the woman couldn't pay. She suddenly realised she was under the influence of con men. She ran to EFCC, and was told to play along. On the day she was taking some money demanded from her, detectives had already surrounded the shrine. Acting on the signal they had already told her to give, they flooded the area.
Oguniyi escaped but was later picked up near the Benin Republic border.