Police Nab Property Agents For Allegedly Defrauding Pastor, Newly-Wed Of N3.9m

LAGOS MARCH 29TH (NEWSRANGERS)-Five members of a syndicate that defrauded a newly-wed couple of N900,000, posing as estate agents, have been arrested by operatives of Special Anti-Robbery Squad, SARS, attached to the Lagos State Police Command.
The suspects, identified as Matthew, 42; Elabor Aruoya, 61; Adesina Abegunde, 54; Segun Adewale, 42, and Olamide Ojajinu, 42, were arrested after they defrauded the couple, who contacted them after seeing an advert they placed as house agents.
It was gathered that the fraudsters collected N3 million for a duplex at Ikeja, GRA, from another victim, who is a pastor in Lekki, in the same manner.
Parading the suspects alongside other notorious criminals, the Commissioner of Police, Lagos State, Muazu Zubairu, said on February 15, the Police received a complaint by a newly-wed couple that they saw an advert on a wall by a house agent.
He said: “They called the person, who lured and brainwashed them after which they collected N900,000 from them. These same suspects have defrauded a pastor, who wanted to rent a duplex at Ikeja, GRA, of N3 million in the same manner.”
Victim’s account
Narrating their ordeal, the newly-weds said sometime last month, they saw an advert by a house agent, so they called the number and the person that answered introduced himself as a house agent but claimed to be out of Lagos.
They said: “He later sent the phone number of his partner, who we called and scheduled a meeting with. The next day, we met him and he took us to Agidingbi area of Ikeja where he showed us an empty three bedroom flat.
“Thereafter, he made a call and informed us that the landlord was in the church attending a service. He took us to a Catholic Church at Ikeja.
“Immediately we arrived at the church, an elderly man, Elabor Aruoya came out of the church hall and said to us ‘are you the lucky tenant? After negotiations, he gave us an account number into which we paid N900,000.
“However, trouble started when we decided to visit the apartment we paid for the next day to take possession, but were chased out by the rightful landlord. We called the phone numbers of the acclaimed estate agents and that of the landlord. Unfortunately, their numbers were switched off.”
Suspect’s account
The suspect, 42-year-old Olamide Ojajiu, told Vanguard: “I was arrested when we were having a meeting at Oshodi area. I was the person that the victims called to show them the house. I went into this business after I had some financial issues.
“This is the second time we are doing this kind of business. I provided them with the account number, which they gave to the victim who wanted to rent an apartment. The first time the victim paid N3,000,000 and I got N600,000.”
Denying the allegation, the second suspect, 61-year-old Elabor Aruoya, who usually pose as the fake landlord, said he and members of his gang are estate agents, who help people secure properties.
“We search for properties which are available for sale. As agents, we don’t need to own a house,” he said.

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