FAKE SSS OFFICER NABBED AFTER EXTORTING N6.4M FROM VICTIM
Fake SSS officer nabbed after extorting N6.4m from victim
From GEOFFREY ANYANWU, Awka
Thursday, March 04 , 2010
Onovo
A staff member in the office of the Head of Service (HoS), Anambra State, Mr. Chibuzor Cyril, has been nabbed by the State Security Service (SSS), Anambra State Command for impersonation and extortion.
Paraded before newsmen yesterday, Chibuzor, who is in his late 30s was said to have posed as a staffer of the SSS and defrauded a businessman in the state to the tune of N6.4 million.
He was alleged to have been going about claiming to be an SSS officer and duping unsuspecting members of the public but luck ran out on him recently when the new state Director of the SSS, Mr. Ekpenyong Ita in the process of reorganisation, got a tip-off of the escapades of the fake officer.
Parading him, the state Director, Ita said Chibuzor had been collecting N31,250 weekly from the proprietor of a popular recreation centre in Awka, Be-Joy Centre and presented fake receipts he had been issuing the businessman.
He said Chibuzor had at the last count, collected a total of N6.4 million from the businessman and issued receipts for money collected. 'He is a civil servant and he is working in the office of the Head of Service (HoS) of Anambra State. Since the year 2007, he has been going around business houses, impersonating the State Security Service and extorting money from them. He has also been acting as a clearing house and a go-between for kidnappers and their victims.
'In a particular incident he duped one businessman of about N6.4 million. He was collecting N31, 250 every week in the name of settling director of SSS and zonal director of SSS. As you know, there is nothing like zonal director of SSS, no nomenclature like that.
'He has been collecting money for birth experiences, death experiences, travelling money and the rest of them. He has been collecting this money since 2007 until the law caught up with him and we want to use this opportunity to inform Anambra people that our services are free,' the SSS boss said. The director further said Be-Joy proprietor was paying Chibuzor the sum of N31,250 every week to protect him from being kidnapped by hoodlums.
Ita, however, warned the public against going into business with anybody in the name of the SSS, stressing, 'we do not collect money; we render services because we are here for the people. People like this use psychological intimidation to extort money from people.' Meanwhile, Chibuzor Cyril who is presently helping the SSS with its investigation confessed that he had been collecting N31,250 weekly from the owner of Be-Joy Centre Point, adding that the money collected was used to settle some personal problems.
The suspect, however, denied the allegation that he collected his victim's Mercedes Benz car under false pretence, insisting that the businessman asked him to buy the vehicle if he could raise funds for it.