The Economic and Financial Crimes
Commission, says it has nabbed a 34-year-old man, Anthony Ezechukwu, for
allegedly using names of some prominent Nigerian political figures and
spouses of others to dupe unsuspecting members of the public.
The anti-graft agency said Ezechukwu, a
graduate of the Lagos State University, allegedly cloned the Facebook
accounts of the Minister of Finance and Coordinating Minister of the
Economy, Ngozi Okonjo-Iweala; wife of Lagos State Governor, Abimbola
Fashola; wife of the minister of the Federal Capital Territory, Aisha
Bala Muhammed; and the Director of the Abuja Geographical Information
Systems, Jamilah Tangaza.
READ MORE AFTER THE CUT........................................
According to the EFCC spokesman, Wilson
Uwujaren, in a statement, the suspect used the accounts to solicit
money. He added that the trickery fetched Ezechuckwu thousands of naira.
Uwujaren said, “In each of the
instances, he devised clever baits to lure his victims. Once he
successfully opened a facebook account with the false identity of a Mrs
Fashola, he began to send out messages. Soon, requests for friendship
flooded his account.
“He exploited the frenzy by the unwary
Facebook crowd that wanted to be friends with a first lady, by directing
some of them to meet with ‘her personal assistant’, who in turn
demanded for various sums of money from them in order to connect them
with influential people in government and the society.
“Also, in the Facebook account he opened
using the name and photograph of Ngozi Okonjo-Iweala, Ezechukwu
claimed he had job offers and directed interested job seekers to ‘her
schedule officer’, who in turn asked them to make payments into a
designated bank account.”
The EFCC spokesman said Ezechukwu’s exploit was discovered after he cloned the facebook account of Tangaza.
He explained, “Ezechukwu set about
exploiting the office of the influential AGIS boss to have his cut of
the Abuja property sector. His bait came in the form of a message – ‘In
my certified, endorsed and approved capacity, as the director general
of Abuja Geographical Information System, officially appointed by FCT
Minister, Senator Bala Mohammed, and his administration on presidency
acceptance and approvals (sic) to take control of all lands and houses
sales (sic) in FCT Abuja. Then I use this medium to advise the general
public; those who wish to buy land and houses in FCT Abuja; to channel
all their inquiries, consultation and payment to me…’”
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