A look at 65-year-old Akpan Joseph , will never
pass him for a fraudster, owing to his
seemingly calm disposition. But he is currently
cooling his heels at the dreaded Lagos State
Police Special Anti-Robbery Squad, SARS, in
Ikeja.
Reason? He was reported to have gone to one
of the Ilorin branches of a first generation
bank,on January 7, 2015, posing as one of the
account holders , who had come to transfer
the sum of N1 million from his supposed
account , into two separate accounts,
Meanwhile, the authentic account holder, a 35
year-old business man identified as Chinedu
Mba, was murdered four months earlier by
unknown gunmen in his apartment in Gindiri
Jos, Plateau state.
Back in the banking hall in Ilorin, Joseph was
asked to sit down while the transaction was
being processed. Unknown to him, the cashier
who apparently suspected something was
amiss, had called in the police. Joseph was
reportedly arrested and later transferred to
the Lion building division in Lagos. Thereafter,
he was transferred to the SARS.
On further checks, the late Chinedu Mba's
phone was also discovered from Joseph.
In this interview with Crime Guard, he claimed
to have been hired by a man whose name he
simply gave as Benson, to make the
transaction, with a promise to be given
N200,000 at the end. He further stated that
the said Benson also handed the decease d's
sim card to him.
Hear the Akwa-ibom state born :
" A man called Benson , whom I met about ten
years ago while I was a security man at Tin
Island ports, took me to Ilorin for a business
transaction.
He did not give me full details of the business
transaction but he promised to give me 20%
of the amount . The way he described the
business made the transaction look so easy
and without complications .
We travelled to Ilorin on January, 5, 2015 and
lodged in Henry George hotel for two days.
Thereafter, Benson gave me a filled fund
transfer form before we proceeded to Union
bank where he asked me to submit the form,
posing as the account holder. The filled form
was an instruction to transfer N500,000 each
into two separate GTB accounts with name
Victoria Abikele.
But to my surprise, the cashier looked intently
at me and back to the computer system before
him. Before I knew it, I was arrested . And
when I turned to look for Benson, he was no
where to be found"
Journey to MTN to retrieve decease SIM card
It was after I was arrested that I got to know
that the owner of the account was murdered. I
am not the killer. I was in possession of the
sim because Benson went to MTN office in
Ilorin to retrieve the number of late Chinedu,
while I waited for him in the car. On his
arrival, he handed the phone to me.
I didn't kill the late Chinedu. I didn't even
know that he was dead. Right now I feel very
stupid for my action because I never thought I
would get into this kind of trouble. I wish
Benson would be arrested. He has answers to
the questions at hand.
I strongly believe that an insider in the bank
gave Benson the information that Chinedu was
dead, that is why he had all the details about
the deceased.
Ah! what will my family say? I told my wife in
the village that I was going to Seme to buy
second hand clothes. I didn't tell her I was
travelling to Illorin for a business transaction",
he said in an emotional laden tone.
On his part, the bereaved father , Mr
Merclenious Mba, a native of Enugu state,
described the whole scenero as a movie,
wishing he would wake up to discover it was
one after all.
The 57 year-old father of nine, said the family
received with shock the news of the death of
his son, Chinedu, on September 9, 2014, by
gunmen who stormed his apartment.
"Immediately I received the news, I requested
that his remains be brought home which they
did and he was buried according to the
traditional rites in my place.
After his burial ceremony I sent some family
members to his house in Jos to bring back his
properties, only to discover that he had about
N6.5 million in his union bank account.
Discovered fraud
We went to the bank with all necessary data
and the bank agreed to transfer the funds to
Obinna, my younger son's account. But on
arriving the bank with Obinna, we were made
to understand that someone had been making
withdrawals from my late son's account, as a
withdrawal of N1 million had been made, by
one Victoria Abikele, on January 5, 2015,
leaving out N5.5 million. We were advised to
go to Abuja , where the person that was using
my late son's number was traced to.
From Abuja, we came to Lion Building
division ,Lagos, where two men ; a father and
son alleged to have been caught with my late
son's phone were brought before us! We were
told that they had been impersonating Obinna
and I"
To ascertain the true identities of Mr Mba and
his son Obinna, the Police at Lion building
reportedly requested for the number of the
deceased. Obinna was said to have called it out
and when the number was dialled, the phone
with the impostor rang.
At that point, the bereaved father who was
infuriated, attempted to hit Akpan Joseph, the
impostor, but he was prevented by the police.
Trying hard not to betray his emotion, Mr Mba
said:
" All I want is justice. I want in-depth
investigation, that would lead to those
involved in the death of my son. They must be
brought to book."
(Vanguard)
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