The Federal Capital Territory (FCT) Police Command, on Wednesday, paraded one 27-year old Mohammed Bello Kolo, suspected to have impersonated the Honourable Minister of the FCT and defrauded unsuspecting members of the public.
Addressing newsmen, the FCT Police Commissioner, Bala Ciroma, said the suspect was arrested following the receipt of a complaint by police operatives attached to the State Intelligent Bureau of the FCT Command.
CP Bala Ciroma said preliminary investigations revealed that the suspect, who claimed to have access to classified information, which he gleaned while on his one-year National Youth Service in the FCT Administration, had defrauded his victim of cash worth Fifty-Two Million Naira (N52,000,000) which he allegedly received in installments under the pretense of securing contracts for his victims.
The Police Commissioner explained that efforts were being made to arrest one Simon “M” and Idris “M” suspected to be Mohammed Kolo’s cohorts who are posing as FCTA’s Director of Procurement and Personal Assistant to the FCT Minister respectively. The suspect, he added will be arraigned in court at the conclusion of investigations.
Also addressing newsmen, the Special Assistant (Media) to the FCT Minister, Mallam Abubakar Sani advised members of the public to be wary of fraudsters and impersonators who will attempt to dupe members of the public with juicy offers of contracts and other such things.
He said emphatically that neither the FCT Administration nor the FCT Minister conduct official government business on Facebook or other social media platforms. Members of the public he said should seek information from official platforms if the need arose.
When questioned by newsmen, the suspect said that while he did not impersonate the FCT Minister, he got the sum of N9.5M from the alleged deal.
Items recovered from the suspect include: a Peugeot 206 salon car with registration number, ABJ 856 SU, a tricycle with registration number, KEF 807 WT, a “55” and a “46” Samsung Plasma TVs and a Hisense Deep Freezer.
Others are, a dining set, 10,000 watts Fireman Generator set and a washing machine.
