How Ibadan High Chief Got Swindled N300m By A Syndicate

The Ibadan Zonal Office of the Economic and Financial Crimes Commission (EFCC), has arrested three persons for allegedly duping the Otun Olubadan of Ibadanland, Oba Lekan Balogun.

This was contained in a statement by the commission’s acting spokesperson, Mr Tony Orilade, on Thursday in Ibadan.

Orilade said that the suspects and others now at large, had allegedly conspired to dispossess the revered Ibadan High Chief of about N300 million.

He said that the younger brother of the victim, Senator Kola Balogun, who is currently representing Oyo South Senatorial District on the platform of the PDP, had written an ‘emotional petition’ to the EFCC as a concerned member of the Aliwo family in Ibadan.

The EFCC spokesperson said that the younger Balogun had sought the commission’s intervention in smashing the syndicate and ensuring that members were made to pay for their alleged crime.

He said that the younger Balogun feared that the high chief might have been charmed by the suspected fraudsters, as he was still unable to come to terms with the reality of his situation.

“This request became necessary because we believe strongly that the victim has been hypnotised. He is not in a position to admit it and his health condition is deteriorating,” the Senator said in the petition.

Orilade said that preliminary investigations into the allegations revealed that the suspects had, for the past four years, consistently collected various sums of money from the victim.

The EFCC spokesperson said that findings revealed that the sums were not attached to any particular project and that no receipt was issued to indicate the existence of any genuine transaction between the parties.

“As at the time of their arrest, the syndicate had received about N300 million through bank transfers from the Ibadan High Chief,” Orilade said.

He said that the commission had designated for possible forfeiture four vehicles and six landed properties traced to their alleged fraudulent activities.

According to him, the commission is still on the trail of their fugitive partners, as further investigations are underway.

Oba Balogun, the victim who represented Oyo South Senatorial District in the Senate between 1999 and 2003 on the platform of the Alliance for Democracy (AD), is next to the Olubadan of Ibadanland in hierarchy.