Be wary of imposters claiming to be COAS, Army warns Nigerans

Army Headquarters (AHQ) has warned Nigerians to beware of criminal elements posing as the Chief of Army Staff (COAS) in an attempt to defraud unsuspecting citizens.

The warning was issued on Saturday by the Army’s spokesperson, Major General Onyema Nwachukwu, who revealed that the Nigerian Army has received numerous complaints about imposters claiming to be Lieutenant General Olufemi Oluyede on various social media platforms.

He said the imposters have continued to perpetrate this mischief using the official portrait of the COAS as a profile picture on their various social media platforms.

“It is imperative to state that this is not the first time imposters have attempted to impersonate the COAS on social media platforms to dupe unsuspecting members of the public in one form or another.

“A new trend observed, however, is the fixing of online/virtual meetings on Zoom, WhatsApp, Facebook, and other online platforms, with a demand that participants share specific numbers appearing on their screens during such meetings. The imposters then engage individually with the participants and subsequently defraud them.

“So far, the Nigerian Army has identified the following numbers as being frequently used by the fraudsters: 09033949238, 09075323836, 09074272745, 08169257155, 08064561495, 08054138812, 09161521558, 09026515718 and 09020898622.

Others are 08131333263, 09077188584, 08084529752, 08147409236, 09136497898, 09024627712, 07010119398, 09138997224, 09061549129, 08163593764, 07035272009, 09018150412, 08093524443 and 08088120581

“While the Nigerian Army, like other sister services of the Armed Forces, has peculiar ways of communication known to all officers and soldiers, members of the general public must be wary of the danger posed by these imposters. They are therefore urged to refrain from engaging in any online meeting organised on social media platforms, especially those using the official portrait of the COAS as the display picture.

“Members of the general public are enjoined to report such mobile phone numbers used to fix such online or virtual meetings through the Nigerian Army toll-free call centre number 193 for appropriate follow-up actions.

“The Nigerian Army entreats personnel and non-personnel alike to be circumspect when engaging in any social media, online, virtual meeting, or call as an official means of communication with the Nigerian Army hierarchy. Established protocols and procedures should be relied upon while remaining vigilant against the wiles of scammers,” Nwachukwu said.