The suspect, Fatai Babatunde while being paraded by the police.THE arrest and arraignment of Fatai Abiola Babatunde in a court of law about two years ago seems not to have deterred him from engaging in criminal activities, as he has been arrested again by operatives of the Special Anti-Robbery Squad (SARS), Oyo/Ogbomoso annexe in Oyo State Police Command.
Babatunde (34) was rearrested on October 15, 2015 in Ilorin, Kwara State in the residence of a Quranic teacher where he was trailed to, after the SARS operatives, led by the Officer-in-Charge, Olusola Aremu, got information on his whereabouts. Crime Reports learnt that Babatunde ran to Ilorin when he learnt that the operatives were after him.
Speaking with Crime Reports on the arrest of the suspect, the Oyo State Commissioner of Police, Leye Oyebade, said that about four posh cars, including a Honda CRV (2012 model) with registration number KWL 280 CN, Toyota Camry with registration number LSR 418 DJ, Nissan Altima with registration number KJA 963 CA and Ford Focus with registration number KRD 837 DQ, were recovered from Babatunde, who could not give account of a lawful means of livelihood. This, he added, raised the suspicion of his being involved in armed robbery.
The police commissioner also revealed that the suspect was involved in internet fraud, and had confessed to successfully hacking into the bank accounts of several victims. Oyebade, however, said that his men were already on the trail of the suspect’s gang members while investigation was being carried out to get more facts about his operations.
Crime Reports learnt that Babatunde was once charged to court for being a receiver of a stolen vehicle but was granted bail at the High Court, Ogbomoso. But the police got information that he was into a worse crime, so SARS started monitoring him. It was further learnt he had just built a shopping complex, with no tangible evidence of means of livelihood to back his wealth.
On the day he was trailed to the court premises at Ogbomoso, it was gathered that the suspect abandoned his vehicle, a Ford Focus, when he got a hint that the police were after him. He was reported to have run to the house of an Islamic teacher in Ilorin where he was arrested.
In an interview with Babatunde, he opened up to Crime Reports thus: “I am a yahoo boy. I started with online dating to dupe unsuspecting foreign ladies, but when I was not getting enough, I went into hacking accounts of international banks. Recently, I got $10,000. I achieved this through spamming by knowing companies with high tax return. I hacked into such accounts. I would pass the fund through the account of a foreigner I was dating online and she would send it to me in Nigeria, wrapped with clothes and sent through a courier company as a parcel.
“I was also into auto sales, but only on demand. I have a customer from the Northern part of Nigeria who used to come to me whenever he needed a vehicle and I would go to Cotonou, Republic of Benin to buy for him.
“I also did money rituals. I didn’t know what the native doctor I went to used to prepare the rituals but I paid him N200,000 for the job.
“Since then, I used to get N2 million every 23 days in my wardrobe. I was also told that I will not be able to have children because of the ritual.
“I bought the vehicles found with me. The Honda CRV 2012 model was purchased online and it was shipped to Nigeria. I paid over 18,000 dollars for it. The Nissan Altima was given to me by my elder brother. I bought the Ford Focus from a dealer. I bought the Toyota Camry from someone at Igando, Lagos State and had sold it to one Azeez over a year ago.”
Speaking on the N2.4 million found in his car, the suspect said he wanted to go to Dubai to import lightings. “Part of the money – N1.5 million – was given to me by a man, Alhaji Umoru, who wanted me to get him a vehicle. The man went to Saudi Arabia on pilgrimage but I am yet to hear from him. I tried his number but it was not going through. I don’t know his residence so I dint know how to trace him,” he claimed.
But efforts of the police to verify his claims proved abortive as the phone number he gave as his brother’s was unreachable, while that of the supposed owner of N1.5 million which formed part of the cash found on him could not also be reached.
The native doctor, who is physically-challenged, however denied performing money ritual for Babatunde.
The Quranic teacher also said that “I knew Fatai during the last Ileya festival. He was introduced to me by Gbenga who said Fatai told him that he wanted me to offer prayers for him. I went to him in Ogbomoso and he told me he used to have bad dreams and he was even the one who told me the Qu’ranic verses to use for the prayers. He gave me N5,000.
“On the day he was arrested in my house, Fatai called me and said I should describe how he could get to my house in Ilorin. I did. He came and told me that he needed an emergency prayer. We conducted the prayer and just as we ended it, police came. He told me he was a businessman.”
Gbenga Abdulazeez Moses (28), a rewire technician who worked on two of the suspect’s vehicles and introduced him to the Quranic teacher, also told Crime Reports that Babatunde used to come to his workshop in Ilorin to correct wiring problems in his Ford and Nissan Altima cars, saying that he never suspected him of any crime until his arrest.
[Tribune]
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