Driver impersonates air force officer, extorts money

A fake Nigerian Air Force officer, Muhammed Abdullahi, has been arraigned before an Ikeja Magistrate’s Court, Lagos State, for allegedly using the force uniform to extort money from unsuspecting members of the public.

He was brought before Chief Magistrate O.A. Olayinka on three counts bordering on impersonation and fraud.

Abdullahi, who was arrested in the Agege area, had confessed to the police that he bought the uniform from a soldier friend for N5,000.

The 32-year-old suspect said he used the uniform to escort traders and their goods to markets around the state, adding that he collected N3,000 for a trip.

Abdullahi, who studied Computer Engineering at a polytechnic in Katsina State, had gone for three outings before luck ran out on him on February 2, when he was arrested.

He said, “I got the uniform from one of my friends, Ali. He is a soldier with the rank of lance corporal. He is serving in Lagos, but I don’t know the division he is attached to. We met at Agege. He told me that he got the uniform from a friend in the Nigerian Air Force and gave me to keep it.

“He said he wanted to give his brother, who is an Air Force officer. He gave me the uniform on January 17. Later, he said he wanted to sell it and told me to pay N5,000. I have not paid him the money yet. I used the unform to escort truck carrying goods to Berger, Mile 12 and Ile-Epo markets so that the security agents would not stop the drivers.  I did it three times before I was arrestedý. I normally collected between N2,500 and N3,000 per trip.”

The indigene of Manufashi Local Government, Katsina State, said he resorted to the act to cater to his family after he lost his driving job in December.

“I was a commercial driver. I shuttled between Lagos and Abuja. But the owner of the bus, my elder brother, collected it from me in December and sold it when he wanted to travel abroad.

“I have a National Diploma in Computer Science. I have applied for the Nigerian Army, the Nigerian Navy and the Nigerian Air Force three times, but I did not succeed. I engaged in this act to feed my family. I have three children and my wife is pregnant. I regret my action.”

A police prosecutor, Inspector Donjor Perezi, told the court that Abdullahi’s offences contravened sections 77 (a) (b), 78 (a) (b) and 328 of the Criminal Law of Lagos State, 2011.

The charges read in part, “That you, Mohammed Abdullahi, on February 2, 2016, at about 8.45am on Markaz Road, Agege, Lagos, in the Lagos Magisterial District, with intent to defraud, did unlawfully represent yourself as a member of the Nigerian Air Force of the rank of Air Craftsman, a representation you knew to be false, thereby committing an offence punishable under Section 78 (a) (b) of the Criminal Law of Lagos State, 2011.”

The defendant pleaded not guilty to the charges before the magistrate and was granted bail in the sum of N100,000, with two sureties in like sum.

The case was adjourned till May 5, 2016.