Fake ‘Ooni of Ife’ dupes two US-based ladies of N.6m

The Ogun State Police Command has arrested a suspected Internet gangster, Abiodun Joseph, who impersonated the Ooni of Ife, Oba Adeyeye Ogunwusi, on Facebook.

Joseph had successfully duped two Nigerian ladies of various sums of money. The suspect met his waterloo on Wednesday at Ilese, in the Ijebu North East Local Government Area.

He was paraded alongside three armed robbers and kidnappers at the state command headquarters, Eleweran, Abeokuta, on Monday.

It was gathered that Joseph had allegedly duped the ladies, who were based in the United States of America, to the tune of N600, 000, which was paid through money transfer.

While parading the suspects, the state Commissioner of Police, Ahmed Iliyasu, said Joseph had been using his Facebook and Whatsapp accounts to dupe unsuspecting members of the public.

He said, “On interrogation, he owned up to the crime and confessed that he defrauded the ladies of N600,000.”

Speaking with newsmen, Joseph said he opened the Facebook account in October 2016 with the aim of defrauding people.

He said, “I opened the Facebook account in October last year purposely for Internet scam. I knew that Ooni was popular and that was why I uploaded his picture.

“A few days after I opened the Facebook account, many people, mostly ladies, sent friend requests. Many of them said I had good looks and they wanted to be my olori.

“In our chats, I told them that they have to pay some money for traditional ritual if they are really interested in being the olori. Two of them in the US fell for the scam and sent some money to me totaling N600,000 through money transfer.

“One sent N350,000 and the second one sent N250,000.

“Some of the ladies were really desperate; some of them sent nude pictures, showing their breasts and private parts.

“I regret my action, most especially using the name and pictures of the Ooni to perpetuate fraud. I seek his forgiveness,” he said.