A
36-year-old Charles Abam, a fraud suspect, who is now being held at the Force
Headquarters, Abuja, for attempting to defraud the children of President
Muhammadu Buhari, was at one point in his life, a police sergeant.
According
to Abam, after being jobless since 2003 when he lost his job as a policeman, he
found out he could make a lot of money by defrauding influential Nigerians.
The
suspect allegedly got hold of the phone number of a prominent chieftain of the
All Progressives Congress, whom he contacted by impersonating Mrs. Daisy
Danjuma, wife of Gen. T.Y. Danjuma.
Through
the APC chieftain, he was able to contact some members of the First Family,
setting in motion a con that was supposed to net him millions of Naira.
The
indigene of Ndukwa East, Delta State, told investigators after he was tracked
down and apprehended by the Inspector-General of Police Special Intelligence
Response Team, that he quitted his police post in 2003 after being enticed by a
chance to travel abroad.
A
source at the IRT told Saturday Punch that in April 2017, Abam sent an
SMS to the said APC chieftain, asking for the phone numbers of the President’s
children.
The
chieftain was said to have replied the SMS that she did not have the phone
numbers of the President’s children but sent that of the elder brother of First
Lady, Aisha, thinking she was communicating with Daisy Danjuma.
Saturday
Punch learnt that
Abam again contacted the First Lady’s brother by SMS, asking for the phone
numbers of the President’s children.
The
police said he eventually got the phone numbers of the President’s children,
whom he sent messages, again impersonating Danjuma” to asking them to present
five names for a phantom job with the National Drug Law Enforcement Agency.
When
the Inspector General of Police, Ibrahim Idris was notified of the suspected
fraudulent activities of Abam, the IRT was tasked with tracking him down.
Members
of the First Family were said to have played along and sent some names and
phone numbers to the suspected fraudster.
Saturday
Punch learnt that
eight names, which were provided by the police, were eventually sent to Abam
and his accomplice, Felix Machi.
“The
suspect then pretended to be officials of the NDLEA and called the phone number
that had been sent to him. He asked them to pay a certain amount of money to a
bank account, which would be payment for their kits during their training
exercise. But no payment was made to the accounts,” our correspondent was told
by the police source.
Saturday
Punch learnt that
Abam was tracked down through the details of his bank account which he told his
supposed victims to pay into.
The
suspect, who also led operatives to arrest his accomplice, Machi, said he
regrets his action. According
to him, his fraudulent activities started in 2014 after his unsuccessful
attempts to find a job.
He
said, “I started with internet fraud but I was not making enough money. Then, I
went into local fraud. One of my friends, known as Mike, taught me how to
impersonate people in order to get phone numbers of prominent politicians.
“Sometimes
I also paid to get the phone numbers. I later met Felix (Machi), who became my
partner. Before I attempted to defraud the president’s children, I had
defrauded many politicians by pretending to be a kidney disease patient.
“I
told some politicians that I needed financial help for a kidney transplant and
many of them sent money to me. I got N70,000 from a member of the Anambra State
House of Assembly,EmekaObinna, the Commissioner for Lands in Delta State and he
gave me N50,000.
“One
Senator Ahmed Kamoni, gave me N150,000 while another member of the Anambra
State House of Assembly, ObinnaUzor, gave me N50,000. I also got N50,000 from
Senator Ahmed Yerima. Even the President of the Christian Association of
Nigeria, Pastor Ayo Oritsejefor, gave me N100,000.
“I
also got N100,000 from the Speaker of the Akwa Ibom State House of Assembly,
Aniofor Udo andN5,500 from a former Director of the Niger Delta Development
Commission, Daniel Abia.”
Abam
said he gave 10 per cent of all the money he made from his kidney transplant
fraud to Machi.
According
to him, he only decided they needed to up their game recently when he broached
the idea of defrauding the First Family to Machi.
He
said he got the phone number of the APC chieftain from the APC Chairman in
Delta State, Prophet Enu, by impersonating the Chairman of the Peoples
Democratic Party in the state.
Abam
said, “Eventually, when I contacted the President’s children and they sent me
the eight names, I realised the candidates were not cooperating. I knew
something had gone wrong when I started receiving calls from people threatening
to arrest me.
“I
decided to destroy my phones and sim cards. I thought there was no way I could
be tracked without them. But I was surprised when the police showed up at my
house on Saturday and arrested me.”
The
police authorities at the headquarters have said Abam and his accomplice would
be charged to court as soon as investigation into the extent of their operation
was complete.
-Punch
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