Two brothers arrested for impersonating NSCDC Commandant on Facebook
The two brothers arrested for impersonating Odumosu
Published By: Ayorinde Oluokun
By Kelechi Ogunleye
Two brothers identified as Henry Odep, 34, and Emmanuel Odep, 23 have been arrested for impersonating the Commandant of Nigeria Civil Defence Corps (NSCDC) Olusola Odumosu, and other citizens on Facebook.
The suspects who were based in Asaba, Delta State from where they are operating the fraudulent scheme were paraded before journalists by the FCT NSCDC boss on Tuesday.
He said they were arrested after seven months of diligent investigation by officers of the Corps.
Odumosu had in Sept. 2023, Odumosu alerted the public of a fraudulent Facebook account opened in his name with the intent to defraud innocent citizens.
The FCT NCDSC boss told journalists that reports from citizens who had been defrauded by the impersonators in his name led to the manhunt for the suspects.
He said the investigation eventually led to the arrest of one Henry Odep, 34, and his younger brother Emmanuel Odep, 23, both from Cross Rivers.
“The effort became necessary to distance myself from the said Facebook account so that unsuspecting Nigerians would not fall into the hands of these fraudsters.
“Today, I am glad to inform you that the manhunt which began about seven months ago, followed by a well-coordinated covert operation by my men, with the assistance of our counterparts in Delta and Anambra Commands, finally paid off.”
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The commandant stated that Emmanuel, upon his arrest, provided information that led to the arrest of Henry, who was found in possession of the device used to operate the fake Facebook account.
“Emmanuel was the first to be apprehended after being lured to Abuja and his confessional statement led to the arrest his elder brother, who incidentally had the phone used to operate the fake Facebook account on him at the point of arrest in Asaba, Delta.
“Emmanuel confessed that his brother, Henry Ushie Odep is a Yahoo boy and was the one who created the fake Facebook account bearing Olusola Odumosu immediately after he was appointed as the FCT Commandant in August 2023.
“He admitted to being the one withdrawing all the money sent to the Opay account by his brother through POS machines until he was arrested by the officers of the Command,” he added.
According to Odumosu, the brothers have confessed to duping unsuspecting victims through various means, including creating fake profiles of high-ranking officials.
“He also disclosed that he is the same person behind the defrauding of so many people through a fake Facebook account opened in the name of late Helen Amakiri, eight years ago (2016), then an Assistant Commandant -General.”
The Commandant said these were a few of the many accounts they impersonated and duped people with in the last eight years.
According to him, two other individuals, Amadi Chisom and Mrs Okafor Evelyn, initially apprehended alongside the principal suspects, have been granted bail after investigations revealed they were not involved in the cyber fraud.
(NAN))