A
22-year-old college dropout, Gani Akinmade, has been arrested by the
Special Fraud Unit, Ikoyi, Lagos for allegedly impersonating the Alake
of Egbaland, Oba Adedotun Gbadebo on Facebook.
Akinmade was said to have used the false
identity to attempt swindling one Olubukola Awofeso, a United Kingdom
resident whom he met on Facebook, of N3m.
He was arrested at a bank when he went
to withdraw some money sent by another victim in the United States
through Western Union money transfer.
The SFU Police Public Relations Officer, Ngozi Isintume-Agu said, “We received information on July 22 2013, that a Facebook account with the name HRM Oba Micheal Adedotun Gbadebo was opened between May 3 and 22, 2013 by a fraudster.
“Aside from trying to swindle Awofeso,
the suspect attempted to lure the victim to partner in a business of
supplying 300 transformers valued at over N1bn.
“Akinmade has confessed to the crime, but said that he conspired with one Ifeanyi and Seyi Lewis to perpetrate the fraud.”
Olokunbolablessing gathered that Gbadebo had denied ownership of the Facebook account, adding that he had neither spoken with Awofeso nor proposed any business to her.
However, Akinmade, who claimed to be a self employed chef, denied the impersonation allegation.
He said, “I simply went to the bank to
withdraw money for my friend, Ifeanyi. I didn’t defraud anyone, neither
did I impersonate anyone.
