Mrs Onyedikanne said she met Mrs. Gladys Gift Stephens in an event in Lagos sometime in 2019, an encounter she wished it didn’t happen
By Ishaya Ibrahim, News Editor
A team of alleged fraudsters have swindled a Lagos businesswoman, Mrs Osuji Onyedikanne of N9.5 million on the pretext of engaging her travels and tours company in a travel deal that turns out to be a ruse.
The financial loss has left Mrs Onyedikanne emotionally and physically distressed, for which she approached the Lagos police commissioner, Abiodun Alabi, to help her recover her money from the syndicate.
A concerned Lagos police boss transferred the case to the Special Investigation Bureau (SIB). The syndicate were swiftly rounded up by operatives of SIB, only to be immediately released after a call from a mysterious senior police officer. Since then, the case has developed k-leg.
READ ALSO
Soludo pledges repositioning Onitsha, meets with landlords
Obi: Campaigning for 2023 election with students at home, embarrassing
A petition by the Rule of Law and Accountability Advocacy Centre (RULAAC) has appealed to the Inspector General of Police, Usman Baba Alkali to intervene in the case by ordering the transfer of the case to the CID in Alagbon.
Read the petition
SUSPECTED COMPROMISE AND SHODDY INVESTIGATION IN A COMPLAINT OF FRAUD AND THREAT TO THE LIFE OF THE COMPLAINANT, MRS. OSUJI ONYEDIKANNE BY THE SUSPECTED FRAUDSTERS, AND ATTEMPT TO PERVERT JUSTICE:
APPEAL TO DIRECT THE AIG FORCE CID ANNEX, ALAGBON TO TAKE OVER CASE FROM THE LAGOS STATE POLICE COMMAND
By a petition dated 8th April, 2022 addressed to the Commissioner of Police, Lagos State Police Command, captioned ‘’CONSPIRACY, OBTAINING MONEY UNDER FALSE PRETENCE, THREAT TO LIFE AND CONDUCT LIKELY TO CAUSE BREACH OF PEACE’’ Mrs. Osuji Onyedikanne a Lagos-based business woman who also runs a travels and tours company, had brought to the attention of the Lagos State Commissioner of Police the ‘’unfortunate incidence’’ which started sometime in February 2022 whereby one Mrs. Gladys Gift Stephens colluded with others to defraud her in the guise of involving her in her business.
Mrs. Osuji Onyedikanne informed the Lagos CP in her petition that she met the said Mrs. Gladys Gift Stephens in an event in Lagos sometime in 2019 and they familiarized and remained in communication. Sometime in April 2022, Gladys Gift Stephens came to her with Mr. Chigbu Kenneth, Chika, Ovuozor Desmond Oghenefejiro, and Nwosu Emeka Charles (whose claims to being a lawyer is doubtful), and lured her into funding a business which she was meant to believe she would be part of. They used the name of a dubious company given as Golden Knights Ltd./Golden Knights International Sports Ltd., and claimed that they use the company to recruit upcoming football stars for trial in Spain. They printed and distributed fliers and made claims of collaborating with the Nasarawa State government as well as the Embassy of Spain for which they tendered several documents that made her feel convinced about the genuineness of the business.
They collected from her the initial sum of six million Naira (6,000,000.00), and seeing that they had won her confidence, Mrs. Gladys Gift Stephens later came back and collected another sum of about four million, five hundred thousand Naira (4,500,000.00) in the pretense that she was investing it in another business for her.
She informed us that what convinced her to facilitate the last loan of 6 million Naira for them was because they showed her a document written in Spanish which they claimed was an MOU they reached and signed with the Consular, Spanish Embassy Lagos. They claimed that the Consular had agreed to be issuing them visas if they register the company in Spain and then fund the account with about €10,000 – €20,000 and leave the money in the account for two weeks as proof of funds.
After receiving the money, they absconded and were no longer taking her calls. It was then she realized that they are a syndicate of fraudsters who specialize in defrauding innocent citizens in the guise of investments in importation, exportation, and business establishment. She said she later found out that there are other victims who had been defrauded by this same syndicate and who are still making efforts to recover their money but to no avail as they seem to be enjoying the cover of a particular senior police officer who always intervenes to get them released whenever they are arrested by the police. This has emboldened them to continue in their criminal activities. One of the syndicate members Nwosu Emeka Charles who lays doubtful claims to being a lawyer always boasts of being a member of the Buccaneers secret cult and threatens to send his cult member after their victims if they press too much for refund. This has been the fate of Mrs. Osuji Onyedikanne.
All her efforts to get across to them proved abortive. When she eventually did, they started threatening her life and the lives of her loved ones. Within this period, her aged father was kidnapped and because she was in dire financial straits as a result of the huge losses she had incurred to these fraudsters, she had to borrow to pay the ransom demanded by the kidnappers to free her aged father from captivity. All this has combined to put her is serious debts and pressure from clients whom she collected money from to procure visas and travel documents for.
She attached all the relevant documents to her petition evidencing the transactions and communications between her and Mrs. Gladys Gift Stephens including evidences of payments into the two bank accounts provided by Mrs. Gladys Gift Stephens.
CP Lagos Responds
The Commissioner of Police Lagos State promptly responded to her appeal to use his good offices to ensure that the fraudsters were apprehended and brought to book before they execute their threats to eliminate her and her family members. The Commissioner of Police approved the petition and directed it to the Special Investigation Bureau (SIB) to investigate. The suspects were arrested on the 13th of April at about 6.45pm. But to her chagrin, they were released as soon as she left the police station without any communication to her, or any commitment of payment or any investigation. Their promise to obtain a search warrant to be executed on their residences are yet to be fulfilled. She has invested so much money in her bid to assist the police in their investigation. But as it seems, they have compromised.
As soon as they were released, the suspects came to parade themselves in front of her office in a show of toughness and being untouchable. She called the two IPOs identified as Wale and the other simply called ‘’Accountant’’, and later also called the team leader DSP Dominic Amechi, but none of them picked her calls.
After the Easter holidays, she went to the Command headquarters to inquire what transpired and the investigating officers told her that ‘’one Oga called for their release on the grounds that they were to pay one million Naira (N1,000,00) that same day and bring two million Naira (N2,000,000.00) the next four days. They placated her and assured her that they were ‘’on top of the matter’’, so she left.
By the time she went back to the Command four days later which was on Tuesday 19th April, the suspects had not dropped any money at all. IPO Dominic was nowhere to be found. She then went to the O/C SIB CSP Mohammed Alkasim who, after listening to her, ordered that the suspects should be re-arrested and detained since they did not keep to their promise. He directed SP Justice to stand in brief for Dominic since he was not around. SP Justice reminded Nwosu Emeka, the self-acclaimed lawyer and a member of the syndicate that they had promised, in his presence, to pay two million Naira before their release and up to that date they were yet to bring any money. Emeka responded that the money is intact in their account and that it will not take them 1 hour to bring out the money. Then SP Justice asked them why they don’t want to give the woman her money and instead subjecting her to stress. He gave no answer. SP Justice then said they were to be detained and Mrs. Onyedikanne left the command at about 9.45pm. When she called in the morning the next day to find out if they had brought some money, she was informed that they released them, again, on the intervention of the same faceless ‘’Oga’’ by 12am. They claimed that the ‘’Oga’’ called for their release without dropping a dime on the promise to bring one million the next morning.
While this was still going on, Mrs. Onyedikanne said IPOs Dominic and ‘’Accountant’’ called her and asked her to bring Mrs. Gladys Gift Stephens’ International Passport which she had dropped with her as part of the collateral for the loan. She said they asked her to bring the passport or the complainant may turn to be the accused. Appalled at this twist of events, she asked what they were talking about, to which they responded that it was the order from the same ‘’Oga’’. She asked them ‘’what about my N9.5m and my clients’ passports which the same syndicate is holding’’? They said it doesn’t matter.
She said that because the fraudsters believe they have fully comprised the police, they have refused to bring the 6 passports of her clients till now, insisting that they will only bring the passports on the condition that she returns Mrs. Gladys’ own passport.
She decided to go back to the CP, and after explaining her predicaments, she said the CP was angry but held back his reservations and asked her to go and see the Deputy Commissioner of Police Operations (DC Ops) Mohammed Kontagora which she did. She said the DC Ops instructed the O/C SIB to invite the suspects back to the command. Till date, the suspects are yet to show up after three appointments/invitations for them to come even on the orders of the DC Ops. The IPOs would say the suspects changed the date to a convenient date and yet they will not show up at the next date.
Mrs. Onyedinanne said she informed the police that Mrs. Gladys and her son, Desmond who is also a member of the syndicate have been living at Dohela Hotels & Suites; 6 Ijero Street by Kilo bus stop Ikate Surulere Lagos since June 2021, without any defined means of livelihood, but they refused to do anything about it, rather they pass all the information to the suspects thereby endangering her life.
Request
Owing to the indication that the investigators at the SIB, Lagos State Police Command may have compromised by allowing the fraud syndicate suspects to dictate the pace of investigation; for asking her to return the prime suspect’s International Passport which she dropped as part of collateral, while she is still holding 6 of her clients’ passports and is yet to pay back the money she fraudulently obtained from her; and with the investigators threatening to ‘’turn the complainant into the accused ’’ if she failed to return the accused person’s passport, Mrs. Onyedikanne informed us that she has lost confidence that she can obtain justice from the police investigators at the SIB Lagos State Police Command, despite her huge financial support to them to enable them carry out diligent and effective investigation; hence her appeal to the IGP to kindly and urgently direct the AIG FCID Alagbon, Lagos to take over the investigation with a view to ensuring a prompt, impartial and exhaustive investigation, ensuring that these fraudsters pay back her money, release her clients’ International passports, and are also fully unraveled to identify other crimes they have perpetrated against other unsuspecting citizens.
The full account of the complainants’ experience as narrated by her is attached hereunder
Yours sincerely,
Okechukwu Nwanguma
Executive Director
