Asuelimen and Ogashi
Edo State Command of the Department of State Service (DSS), on Wednesday paraded two suspected internet fraudsters who allegedly used the names of Vice President Yemi Osinbajo and the that of the wife of the President, Aisha Buhari, to defraud unsuspecting members of the public.
The suspects are Amos Ehis Asuelimen, a 30-year-old Business Administration student of Ambrose Alli University, Ekpoma, and 18-year-old Kelvin Godwin Ogashi.
The Deputy Director (Security Enforcement) of DSS, Galadima Byange, who paraded the suspects before journalists, said Asuelimen, created a fictitious Facebook account in the name of the Vice President to scam unsuspecting victims.
The suspect who admitted defrauding not less than five persons, said he told them “to send money and recharge cards to process their registration and subsequent eligibility for a loan of N100, 000 each.”
“I am not Osibanjo. I am student of Ambrose Alli university, Ekpoma, from the department of Business Administration. I am a final year student. I should have been a graduate by now but I am having an issue, that is project inconclusive.
“My parents are not aware and nobody is aware that I’m doing fraud. Am into fraud because I 2as thinking I can get money to pay my fees and complete my degree course in Business Administration,” he said.
On his part, the teenage Godwin Ogashi, who claimed to be a fashion designer, was arrested for allegedly impersonating the Mrs. Buhari on an Instagram account with which he derauded his victims.
He said he created the Instagram account in May, 2019, with a message that the First Lady was empowering Nigerian youths with cash to start up their businesses and that interested persons were required to register with money.
“This is my first time of doing it. I was a fashion designer, but there was no money for me to start up my own shop that is why,” Ogashi said.
The DSS Deputy Director, Mr. Byange, warned “youths who engaged or contemplating to engage in [fraudulent acts], that there is no short cut to wealth. That they should engage themselves on decent productive venture or risk being guest of law enforcement agencies.”