A 45-year-old paraded by Ogun State Police Command for allegedly conspiring with robbery suspects to dupe passengers in Abeokuta admitted complicit in the illicit act of duping people because she had once been a victim.
Ashile Basirat, a mother of five said her children had advised her to stop the illicit business, but her venture into petty trading did not yield the desired profit.
Explaining how her gang operated before they were apprehended, Basirat claimed that her gang members acted as passengers in a taxi, pretending to be waiting for more passengers.
She said when the victim is found, they would tell him or her that there was money in the booth, which could not be spent because it was spiritually locked.
Basirat further explained that the victim would be persuaded to follow them to a priest and “he or she would be brought to me, while I pretend to be an Ifa priestess (Iya Alawo).”
Also paraded was Ali Audu, a retired military officer arrested for impersonation and for using military uniform to extort motorists, who said he did so “to keep body and soul together after his retirement.”
Ahmed Iliyasu, the Police Commissioner in the state, paraded Basira alongside Audu and 31 other suspects for various offences at the Eleweran Police headquarters in Abeokuta, Ogun State capital.
Iliyasu said Basirat, a suspected member of a fraud syndicate, engaged in fooling unsuspecting passengers by hypnotising and taking them to the nearest Automated Teller Machine, ATM, point to dispose them of cash.
The police boss said the syndicate specialised in driving commercial taxi cab, pretending to be drivers and simulated passengers to dupe the unsuspecting members of the public.
