Operatives from the Nigeria Security and Civil Defence Corps (NSCDC), Osun State Command, have apprehended a network that specialises in mobile phone theft and scamming unsuspecting citizens.
The suspects arrested in Osogbo, the capital of Osun State, are 35-year-old Kayode Owoseni, a two-time ex-convict from Agbode Street, Oke Baale, Osogbo; 43-year-old Olasunkanmi Adesina, a suspected cultist from Oke-Ayepe; and 32-year-old Kehinde Bankole from Idi-Omo, Sabo Road, Osogbo, Osun State.
Michael Adaralewa, the Osun NSCDC commandant, disclosed to press on Sunday that the arrest was the result of a complaint from one of their victims, whose phone had been taken.
Commandant Adaralewa said, “The complainant made it known that on the 14th day of June 2024, two men came to buy sachet water in her shop at Inisa, Osun State. While attending to the men, she kept her phone on one of the tables in the shop. The duo later said they were not buying again and promised to come back. It was after they left the shop that the victim realised she could not find her phone again.
“Upon her complaint, the command swung into action and members of the syndicate were arrested on 1st July, 2024.”
He also said, “Diligent investigation revealed that one of the suspects, Kayode Owoseni, had been convicted twice for a similar offence.
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According to Commandant Michael Adaralewa, the case involved stealing, impersonation, fraud, and a plot to mislead unsuspecting members of the public.
While ensuring that the suspects would face the full wrath of the law, Adaralewa cautioned criminally inclined people in the state to stop their activities or face the repercussions of their acts.
While making his confessional testimony, Kayode stated that he learned the act of pickpocketing from his friends, who have their base at Oja-Oba, Osogbo.
Adeshina Olasunkanmi, a syndicate member, stated in his statement that he belongs to a cult group called as the ‘Eta Fraternity’.
He said that the stolen phones had been sold, but he had previously used the phone’s Subscriber Identification Module (SIM) card to call unsuspecting members of the public, impersonating an elderly man who had dialled phone numbers by mistake.
During the conversation, he disclosed that he would identify himself as a herbalist and offer assistance with money rituals to the person receiving the phone.
Members of the public who fell for the trap handed him money in exchange for sacrifice, and he later burned the SIM cards to wipe out proof.
The suspect went on to say that he collaborated with a man he referred to as ‘JEEGUN’, and that the two of them had been scamming the public for the past fifteen years.
