The family of a detained chartered accountant, Ms Omafume Augustina Ayinuola, has asked the Inspector General of Police, Kayode Egbetokun, to probe the allegation of fraud preferred against their daughter by a prominent stockbroker and businessman, Peter Ololo.
The family, through Erhievuyere-Dominic Oghenetega Peter, brother to the detained accountant, lamented that members of the family are currently living in fear for the safety of the detained sister, stressing that members of the family have been subjected to harassment and intimidation.
He stated that the actions taken against his family have caused immense emotional and financial distress and hardship, with my sister’s children having no access to their mother, assets frozen, reputation tarnished, and the family’s future uncertain.
The family urged the IG to conduct a thorough and impartial investigation into accusations against his mother and sister to ensure that justice prevails and those found to have abused the power of their office are held accountable for their actions.
It was stated that Omafume worked in various companies before she joined RSL International, a part of the Pine Petosan group of companies, in 2015, and over a year ago, their mother, Lydia Abosede Erhievuyere, and sister, Omafume Tina Ayinuola, were falsely accused of fraud by a stockbroker, Mr. Peter Ololo, of stealing over N1.5 billion.
The family explained that Omafume started working directly under the leadership of Tosan Alimi, who was the MD of RSL International and also the group deputy managing director of the group of companies and was also reporting to Patience Carew, who was the Group Financial Director and MD of Resolution Finance Limited.
The family added that as a hard-working young lady dedicated to her duties, Omafume received an award for most dedicated staff in the Pine Petosan Group of companies for two consecutive years and exponentially rose to become the Chief Financial Officer, which meant that she was required to file reports, accounts, and activities to the head office on behalf of Mrs. Alimi and RSL International.
He stated that Mrs Alimi and Mrs Carew are executive members of the group and also daughters of Mr Peter Ololo, the chairman and stakeholder of the group.
The petitioner alleged that “communicating with the head office subsequently led to working closely with the CEO of the group of companies, Mr Peter Ukuoritsemofe Ololo, until 2020, when Mrs Alimi applied for an indefinite leave of absence.
Up until that point, there were no “alleged” issues of misappropriation of funds or manipulation of accounts reported either by the company’s executive management or by the external auditors in Bakertilly, Nigeria.
“Omafume was then promoted to the position of managing director of RSL International later in the year 2020, and after seeing the instant improvement in the company’s operations and books, it didn’t take long to recognise Mrs. Omafume’s management prowess, and so she was branded as an invaluable asset to the group of companies.
“In Dec. 2022, Omafume decided she needed a rest as a result of work overload and alleged emotional abuse. She went on a week of vacation with her children.
“Getting back to the office, Mr Ololo accused her of cheating and travelling to London with another man. He mandated her to resign. She resigned but implored him to investigate.
“As a procedure, Mr Ololo invited auditors to audit her accounts but found nothing, and there was also still no issue of alleged misappropriation of funds at this time. He later approached her to withdraw her resignation after his investigations into her vacation but she refused.
“He sought support from Omafume’s parents but was told it was her decision to take. He also went to Omafume’s pastor to intervene and went as far as inviting his own pastors from the Deeper Life church he attends to aid in convincing Omafume to return to him, even if she didn’t want to return to the company. However, despite his best efforts, she refused.
“After this did not yield the desired result, Omafume was arrested by Interpol in March 2023 while taking her children to school and detained for a week without any prior invitation or notice.
“Her mother was also invited for interrogation. While her car and that of her father’s and other items such as documents and laptops were forcefully seized.
“All Omafume’s bank accounts, along with those of her children and mother, were thereafter frozen (an action that was later extended to her brothers’ accounts as well)
“I implore Sir, for the use of your good office to conduct a thorough and impartial investigation into these false accusations against my mother and sister to ensure that justice prevails and those found to have abused the power of their office held accountable for their actions,” he appealed.
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