61-year-old fake ASP arrested, as CP FCT stresses no affiliation between suspect, police, urges public vigilance

By ABIRHIRE THOMAS and OBANYAGBON BENEDICT, Abuja

The Federal Capital Territory (FCT) Police Command says it has arrested a serial fraudster, who specialises in impersonating legal practitioners and senior law enforcement officers to defraud unsuspecting members of the public.

This, it said, became possible following a series of petitions and reports at various formations and units of the Command and that the imposter, Olakunle Adesola, a 61-year-old resident of Liberty Estate by Spring Road, Abuja Municipal Area Council (AMAC), was finally arrested on Sunday 20th November 2022 by its intelligence asset attached to the Anti-violence Crime section of the FCT Criminal investigations Department.

The arrest took place at Our Lady Queen of Cathedral Church, Area 3, where scores of unsuspecting worshippers have reportedly been defrauded.

The suspect’s modus operandi, a statement from the command said, is to impersonate a senior police officer between the ranks of Commissioner and Assistant Inspector General of Police, top-ranking EFCC officials, and, or a legal practitioner, who owns a law firm by the name Dr.Kunle Adeshola & Associate.

By doing this, the suspect is said to have successfully defrauded many to the tone of about N10 million.

The suspects, when interviewed, confessed to having been a perpetrator of this criminal enterprise as far back as the year 1980.

Upon the arrest, several forged documents, unissued police gear, tear gases, and forged academic documents from various learning institutions were recovered in possession of the suspect.

While discrete investigation and effort to apprehend co-perpetrators of this criminal enterprise are ongoing, the Commissioner of Police, FCT Command, CP Babaji Sunday, categorically stated that the suspect had absolutely no past or present affiliation with the police in status or otherwise and at any level.

“Members of the public are therefore advised to be weary of such unscrupulous elements who parade themselves in such manner as the above or any other in other to defraud members of the public,” the statement said.

In the statement signed by the FCT Police Public Relations Officer (PPRO), DSP Josephine Adeh, CP Babaji Sunday also reaffirmed the Command’s commitment to bringing criminality in all its forms and expression to the barest minimum.

“While painstaking effort is being deployed to ensure the above, members of the public are therefore urged to maintain vigilance and report suspicious activities to the police, DSP Adeh said.