The Oyo State Police Command has discovered a place in a remote village of Ibadan, where thousands of fake pounds, euros, dollars and other foreign currencies were being produced.
State Police Commissioner, Mohammed Katsina, said that the discovery was made by the command’s ambush squad in a village called Ojoku in Badeku, Ona-Ara LGA of the state. The police described the area as fast transforming to an abode for criminals, having earlier served as a kidnappers’ den.
Punch correspondent, who visited the scene of the crime on Monday, discovered that the police had cordoned off the compound shielded by tall trees and thick bushes.
Two Toyota Camry cars with number AA 125 DK and AA 207 DH and a Nissan Almera lift back model with number AGL 882 DF were found in the compound, which was fenced with corrugated iron sheets.
Several notes of fake foreign currencies littered the ground. Apart from being a fake currency factory, the place also served as a shrine where several criminal activities were perpetrated.
There are two houses in the compound with at least six rooms adorned with various statues to give the impression that the place is being used as a shrine. The walls were decorated with the group’s description of gods to scare victims.
Ismail Adesina, 43, who was arrested at the scene, said he did not know anything about the currencies and that the owners had escaped.
He confessed that he was a herbalist and that he had been involved in several financial crimes under the pretext of helping victims to cure ailments and barrenness.
Adesina said the owners of the three vehicles were canvassers who combed the town to woo customers.
He said, “I am a herbalist and I inherited the skill from my father. I am also a conman. I cured diabetes, barrenness, blindness and other ailments. I have cured many people. My partner, who escaped, knows how the currencies were produced. Taju and Wasiu are my other partners.
"We have been here for about four years. We collected varying sums of money from our victims but we do not kidnap people. We bought the land in the bush and built the houses. I am a native of Beyerunka in Ibadan. The names of our victims are with my partners.”
The police said apart from taken money from their victims, the suspects also devised a way of gagging them by taking their nude pictures and threaten to release them if they failed to keep the secret.
Credit: Olu Famous
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