Matilda Omonaiye/
Three self-acclaimed Islamic clerics, accused of fraud and rape, have been held by the police in Ogun State.
According to the police, the clerics specialized in swindling unsuspecting members of the public and having unlawful carnal knowledge of female victims.
Ogun State police spokesman, DSP Abimbola Oyeyemi, identified the suspects as 50-year-old Aliu Abdulfatai; Sule Adebayo, 36, and Lekan Olokodana, 31.
Oyeyemi said that they were arrested following a report by one of their female victims who reported at Adigbe police station that she was duped of N70, 000 by the suspects, while one of them also raped her.
He stated: “The complainant who is a marketer with a popular property/Real Estate company was said to be on marketing assignment when she came across the suspects who claimed to be Islamic clerics and indicated interest in purchasing large expanse of land, which they claimed they wanted to use for construction of their mosque. There and then, they introduced the issue of special prayer to their victim from where they came out with seeing a vision that the victim is under a spell which needed special deliverance prayer to cast out. As a result of this, they succeeded in fraudulently obtaining the sum of N70, 000 from her, after they lured her into their house where one of them forcefully raped her.
“On the strength of her complaint, the DPO Adigbe Division, CSP Augustine Opadile, detailed his detectives to go after these hoodlums and bring them to justice. Their efforts paid off when three amongst them were apprehended while waiting for the victim to bring money they demanded, and one of them escaped.
“On interrogation, they confessed being fraudsters and that it has been their means of livelihood. It was also revealed that one of them has used the proceeds of their fraudulent act to build a private school in Ikorodu, Lagos State.”
Meanwhile, the Commissioner of Police, CP Bashir Makama has ordered a full-scale investigation into the activities of the suspects. He said that they would be charged to court as soon as possible.
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