Nigeria Security and Civil Defence Corps (NSCDC), Osun Command, has arrested an ex-convict and two others who specialise in stealing mobile phones and using stolen SIMs to defraud people.NSCDC, in a statement issued by its Commandant, Michael Adaralewa, in Osogbo on Sunday, said that the suspects were arrested after a complaint was lodged by one of their victims, whose phone was stolen.“A complainant reported on June 14 that two men came to buy sachet water in her shop at Inisa, Osun State.“She said while attending to the men, she kept her phone on one of the tables in the shop.
“She said the duo later said they were not buying the sachet water again and promised to come back, and that after they had left her shop, she could not find her phone again,” he said. Adaralewa stated that after the complaint, NSCDC operatives swung into action and arrested the suspects on July 1. He said that when the suspects were being interrogated, it was discovered that one of them had been convicted twice for a similar offence and that he confessed to having learned pick-pocketing from his friends based in Oja-Oba, Osogbo. The commandant further stated that another suspect, in his confessional statement, said that he belonged to a cult group known as Eta Fraternity.“He said they usually sell off the stolen phones but will use the Subscriber Identification Module (SIM) card in it to call unsuspecting members of the public, pretending to be an old man who mistakenly dialled their phone numbers.
“He said that he would tell the receiver of the scam call that he is an herbalist and would want to offer assistance with money rituals.“He said members of the public who fell for the scam would send money to him for sacrifice and he would thereafter destroy the SIM cards to destroy evidence.” Adaralewa said. The commandant said that the suspect further revealed that he worked in collaboration with a man he calls ’JEEGUN,’’ and that they both have been defrauding members of the public for the past 15 years. The commandant warned criminal elements to desist from their activities or face the consequences of their actions. He said that all the suspects would be made to face the full wrath of the law. (NAN)
