Operatives of the Rapid Response Squad (RRS) of Lagos State Police Command have arrested one Segun Adeyefa, a teenager, for allegedly selling bar soap as mobile phones to unsuspecting members of the public.

The 18-year-old, who was trying to defraud an unsuspecting victim in traffic, was caught in the act by RRS operatives on routine patrol of Ikorodu motor-park.

Upon his arrival at RRS’s headquarters in Alausa, the suspect confessed that before he was caught, he had defrauded one person who wanted to buy the phone of N3,500.
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He said he was lured into the fraudulent act after he fell victim to fraudsters using the same tactics about a year ago.

“I got involved in this after I was swindled by two guys about a year ago through this method. I had the intention of buying a phone but unknowingly to me, it was a cut-to-size bar soap that looked similar to a phone shape.

“The two guys approached me on my way to work. Then I was learning plumbing work somewhere around Ikorodu. I bought the phone, which was advertised to me as ‘London-used’ for N2,500.

“After I left the place, I checked the phone I bought and to my surprise, discovered it was a bar of soap .
It was then I promised myself to revenge by doing same to other people.”

On his modus operandi, he said: “I mastered the tactics to swindle unsuspecting members of the public. The item contained cut-to-size soap and carton, wrapped together with a cello tape.”

The suspect, who lives at No. 81, Oriwu Road, Ikorodu, further revealed that: “What I usually do is called exchange. My prospective victims will have the mind of buying handset from me but unknowingly to them I would have changed the real handset with the soap.

“I will engage them in discussion after showing them the real phone initially. In the process of bargaining for the price, I will change it with the aid of white handkerchief to fake phone and I will tell them to keep the phone inside their pockets immediately because people are watching us. As soon as the buyer leaves the spot, I will immediately change my location and move to another place.”

While confirming the arrest, the state Police Public Relations Officer, Dolapo Badmos, a superintendent , warned the general public to be wary of individuals who approach them to buy phones on highways so as not to fall victim to conmen.

She said: “Items such as fake phones, bar soap cut to size, shirts, some amount of money and packets of envelopes cut to carton-sizes were recovered from him. The suspect has been transferred to Lagos State Task Force on Environment for prosecution.”