RULAAC petitions IGP over alleged N9.5m fraud

Rule of Law and Accountability Advocacy Centre (RULAAC) has appealed to the Inspector-General of Police (IGP), Usman Baba, to intervene in the case of N9.5 million fraud on a Lagos-based businesswoman.

According to the petition signed by the Executive Director of RULAAC, Okechukwu Nwanguma, a syndicate allegedly swindled Mrs. Onyedikanne Osuji of N9.5 million on the pretext of engaging her travels and tours company in a travel deal.

The financial loss has left Mrs. Osuji in distress, emotionally and physically, for which she approached the Lagos State Commissioner of Police, Abiodun Alabi, to help her recover the money from the syndicate, RULAAC noted. 

A concerned Lagos police chief was said to have transferred the case to the Special Investigation Bureau (SIB). The civil society organisation said that the syndicate was swiftly rounded up by operatives of SIB, only to be released after a call reportedly from a mysterious senior police officer. Since then, the case has hung.

The petition begged the IGP to order the transfer of the case to the Criminal Investigation Department (CID) in Alagbon. The petition reads: “That the investigators at SIB, Lagos State Police Command, may have compromised by allowing the syndicate to dictate the pace of investigation; for asking her to return the prime suspect’s international passport, which she dropped as part of collateral, while she is still holding six of her clients’ passports and is yet to pay back the money fraudulently obtained from her.

“With the investigators allegedly threatening to ‘turn the complainant into the accused’ if she failed to return the accused person’s passport, Mrs. Osuji informed us that she has lost confidence in getting justice from the police investigators at the SIB Lagos State Police Command, despite her huge financial support to them to enable them carry out diligent and effective investigation.

“Her appeal to the IGP is to kindly and urgently direct the AIG FCID Alagbon, to take over the investigation to ensure a prompt, impartial and exhaustive investigation, ensure that these fraudsters pay back her money.”