How people fall victim to fake Customs car auction by internet fraudsters – Newstrends
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How people fall victim to fake Customs car auction by internet fraudsters

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A victim of Internet fraud pastor Shed Okwu almost in tears, narrated how he was lured by internet fraudsters to participate in buying of non existing cars #1.5million in a fake customs car auction.

Narrating his ugly experience in the hands of Internet fraudsters pastor Shed said, “ The idiots first called me on phone thus, ‘ Hello my man of God. This is senior controller Osemobor Omoh’ and I responded God  bless you. Please we have cars which customs want to auction but you happen to be one of the important people in Lagos  favoured to get the few we brought out to sell directly to and deliver to their houses. He later  requested my full names, mobile phone numbers, residential and office address , email address, age, state and my  local government which I provided.

Despite telling him I was in a meeting he  continued to worry me saying, ‘ When is he leaving the meeting. I just want to know because we work with time. We will talk privately.’

The same day he called again and said, good evening man of God, please if you don’t want to buy again you should let us know. We will not kill you or start fighting you, no way.

My bishop, I have sent it to you. The Nigeria customs authorized financial secretary account details. Account name Alfa Abdullahi Jibrin. Account number 2285898826 Zenith bank PLC.

Make the payment now and drop the proof of payment to me here on WhatsApp so that we can proceed on the document registration .

He continued his bla bla bla. ‘For how long will the receipt take you to send, man of God . Send me your photo passport.

Pay to Subair Saheed Kayode 0250660414 WEMA bank the sum of #51,000. ‘

When I told him that I have paid he said, ‘ yes I saw it. They are working on the custom duty . I have not received the recharge card I ask of.

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Quickly make deposit of #305,000 for custom duty of your vehicle to this account. ‘ I told him I have made the payment.

He said , ‘everything has been put in order now. If you know that you are not ready again let me know but I promise you that if I wait few hours tomorrow morning I will carry my family and go home till they announce the car auction by next year November.

My pastor please call the state controller before morning, we are with the two drivers so that if you people can know what to do tomorrow morning the driver will bring the vehicle to you. Everything depends on you now. Give the driver the balance when he comes around. ‘

Unfortunately, the said driver came without the expected car rather he was busy asking me where he would park the car when he drives into my compound stressing, ‘just give me the balance. I will surely drive the car in within 30 minutes. ‘  He left and never came back that fateful day .

The bubble bust when  I  told my friend what I was passing through and he blamed me for making transactions and payments to people I have not seen their office nor their faces  anyhow.

He advised me that the best step is to go to  that their Seme border custom office and see them face to face and know physically the people I was dealing with.

On the date I had with my friend  we boarded a  bus to Seme border and, to our greatest surprise, when I  called him that I was coming  and almost halfway to the border he shouted, ‘ You want to die. If you come here we will kill you. You want to put us in trouble. Don’t try it unless you want to die. If you try it you will be killed and nothing will happen. Coming to Seme border custom office is not in our arrangement. Please don’t come for your interest . You will still get your car. ‘

With this development my friend advised that we should go back seeing that it is clear that it is a scam, a fraud.

When we got back to my house  my friend advised me to write petition to the then commissioner of police Cp. Hakeem Odumosu to effect the investigation of the case.

The case was referred to a unit in Ikeja division who started the investigation.

The  very unit in Ikeja identified as disaster management unit, a strike force of the Cp. but with office at Ikeja police division building  later sought the assistance of a police officer in another unit in the command headquarters Ikeja who did the tracking and said the suspect he tracked is at Ipoba hill Edo state. He gave the picture and farm address of the tracked suspect.

The victim told the NATION that all efforts to locate the tracked suspect or his farm at Ipoba hill was unsuccessful hence he postponed it till the clearer location of the tracked suspect is known.

Despite the efforts the victim is making to get them arrested they are still calling him to collect the money he told them he had on hand but wanted to complete it to the amount they requested before he would send it.

Contacted for comment the Edo police command public relations officer said the case was not reported to them.

Efforts to get the reaction or comment of the Lagos police public relations officer, a superintendent of police SP Benjamin Hundeyin had not been successful as he would pick call but at the end nothing would be discussed and even the text sent in respect of the case had not been replied till date though he is new and  had  just taken over and had to be briefed by the unit handling the case  before reacting  or  making his comment which is forgivable at the time of filing this report.

However, the victim, pastor Shedrack Okwu called on the inspector general of police IGP Usman Alkali Baba to empower police tracking department to checkmate the menace of the internet fraudsters who impersonate custom officers or any uniformed law enforcement agents to defraud innocent and hard working citizens of this great country, Nigeria.

THE NATION

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Man stabs friend over woman in FCT council

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FCT Police Command Spokesperson, SP Adeh Josephine

Man stabs friend over woman in FCT council

A 27-year -old man, Rabiu Suleiman, has reportedly stabbed and inflicted serious injuries on his friend, Yunusa Muazu, during a fight over a woman at Tipper garage area of Gwagwalada in Gwagwalada Area Council of the FCT.

A resident of the area, who simply gave his name as Sanusi, said the incident occurred on Tuesday night after a fight broke out at a viewing centre at Unguwar Dodo area of the town.

He said Suleiman had accused his friend, Muazu of dating his friend, Jamila Yakubu, who he intends to marry.

He said trouble started when Jamila left Suleiman’s house on Tuesday around 8:34 pm, only for him to meet her with his friend, Muazu, discussing at a viewing centre, where he had gone to watch football.

He said Suleiman, upon sighting his woman with his friend, angrily walked straight to them and slapped him, a situation, which resulted in a fight between them.

He said in the process, Suleiman allegedly pulled out a knife and stabbed his friend in the back, which attracted the attention of people at the viewing centre.

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According to him, some people at the centre, who tried to separate them, were overpowered, not until when some vigilantes rushed to the scene and arrested Suleiman.

He said his friend, who was lying on the floor in a pool of his blood, was rushed to a nearby hospital.

He said the lady quietly left the scene when the fight broke out.

A member of the vigilante, Salihu Bala, who confirmed the incident, said the suspect had been arrested and handed over to security personnel in the area.

He said the vigilantes were making efforts to trace the woman’s location and arrest her.

He said, “The vigilantes even went to the family house of the girl on Wednesday morning but could not find her but we are still trailing her movement to ensure she is arrested.”

Bala said the injured victim was recuperating at the hospital, alleging that the victim and his friend were into drugs.

The spokeswoman of the FCT police command, SP Josephine Adeh, did not respond to the calls and text messages sent to her on the incident.

 

Man stabs friend over woman in FCT council

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South African court acquits Nigerian pastor of rape after 8 years in jail

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Timothy Omotoso

South African court acquits Nigerian pastor of rape after 8 years in jail

A High Court in the Eastern Cape division of South Africa has acquitted Timothy Omotoso, a Nigerian televangelist, accused of raping young women in his church.

Omotoso and his two co-defendants were arraigned on a 32-count charge bordering on rape and human trafficking.

News24 reported that Omotoso would be deported to Nigeria immediately after the judgment.
The co-defendants are Lusanda Sulani and Zukiswa Sitho.

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Several young women had accused the pastor of luring them into his home in Umhlanga, a town in South Africa, where he allegedly molested them.

In April 2017, the Nigerian pastor was arrested shortly after he landed at an airport in South Africa.
He is the senior pastor of the Jesus Dominion International based in Durban, South Africa. He is also the founder of Tim Omotoso Global Outreach and Ancient of Day Broadcasting Network

According to News24, Irma Schoeman, the trial judge, yesterday, ruled that the state prosecutor did not prove the case beyond reasonable doubt.
The Nigerian pastor had been in South African prison since his arrest in 2017.

South African court acquits Nigerian pastor of rape after 8 years in jail

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Man jailed 3 months for non-declaration of $30,000 at airport

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Man jailed 3 months for non-declaration of $30,000 at airport

Justice Deinde I. Dipeolu of the Federal High Court sitting in Ikoyi, Lagos, yesterday,  convicted and sentenced Okunfulure Olusola Steve to three Months imprisonment for money laundering.

Head, Media and Publicity, Economic and Financial Crimes Commission (EFCC), Dele Oyewale, said, the convict was arrested on March 28, 2025, at the Murtala Muhammed International Airport, Ikeja, by operatives of the Nigeria Customs Service (NCS), for false currency declaration to the tune of $30,0000.

The NCS had, on Friday, March 28, 2025, handed him over to the Lagos Zonal Directorate 2 of the EFCC,Ikoyi, Lagos, for further investigations.

Consequently, he was arraigned yesterday on one-count charge bordering on money laundering.

The count reads: “That you, Okunfulure Olusola Steve, on the 28th day of March, 2025, in Lagos, within the Jurisdiction of this Honorable Court, failed to make a declaration of the sum of $20,000 to the Nigerian Customs Service at the Murtala Muhammed International Airport, Ikeja, and thereby committed an offence Contrary to and Punishable under Section 3(5) of the Money Laundering (Prevention and Prohibition) Act, 2022.”

The defendant pleaded “guilty” to the charge when it was read to him.

Following his guilty plea, prosecution counsel, C.C. Okezie called on Felicia Paul, an operative of the EFCC, to review the facts of the case.

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Paul, while giving details of how she knew the defendant, told the court that the NCS handed him over to the Lagos Zonal Directorate 2 of the EFCC on Friday, March 28, 2025.

Led in evidence by the prosecution counsel, Paul also told the court that the defendant was arrested with the sum of $30,000, which he failed to declare. She further told the court that “ his statement was recorded under caution and was served with the bail conditions.”

Thereafter, she identified the defendant’s statement, the handing-over note from the NCS, the arresting officer’s statement as well as the sum of $30,000 to the EFCC.

Okozie ,then sought to tender, in evidence, the documents.

Justice Dipeolu admitted and marked them as exhibits 1,2,3 and 4 and held that: “ I have read the exhibits, the statement of the defendant, and I found him guilty. He is accordingly convicted as charged.”

Okezie thereafter, prayed that the undeclared sum of $20,000 be forfeited to the Federal Government of Nigeria and that the defendant be jailed.

Defence counsel, Joel Ogundere, while addressing the court, said that the defendant,“is a first-time offender and is not aware of the disclosure policy . He is a family man and has responsibilities. His bank account shows the legitimacy of the funds.”

He also prayed the court to, “ magnanimously waive any prison sentence”, adding that the convict would not mind forfeiting the sum of money or pay a fine.

Justice Dipeolu convicted and sentenced the defendant to three months imprisonment, with effect from the date of his arrest on March 28,2025. The Judge also ordered that the money be forfeited to the Federal Government of Nigeria.

Steve, a departing passenger on Delta Airline to Atlanta, United States, had declared that he was not in possession of any  money in foreign currency but in Naira, while being profiled at the Currency Declaration Desk. 

However, the sum of $30,000 undeclared was found on him during a search conducted by operatives of the NCS.

He was subsequently handed over to the Lagos Zonal Directorate 2 of the EFCC for further investigations, a development that led to his arraignment and conviction.

Man jailed 3 months for non-declaration of $30,000 at airport

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