By Adadareporters
The Enugu State Police Command has arrested one Mr Joseph Nnamani for allegedly defrauding a businessman of eighteen bags of rice in the guise of donating them to a church on charity grounds.
The state police command stated on Sunday that Nnamani, 45, was arrested by police operatives serving in the Ogui Police Division of the command over alleged rice fraud worth N400,000.00.
The state Police Public Relations Officer, DSP Daniel Ndukwe, stated that the suspect used the guise of buying and using the rice for charity at a church to effect his crime,l.
According to him, “On February 14, 2024, being Valentine’s Day, Nnamani went to the premises of a church (name withheld) in Ogui, Enugu, from where he called the businessman (name withheld) on the phone, requesting eighteen 25kg bags of rice valued at N400, 000 with the pretence of wanting to use the same for charity to the church.”
Ndukwe said the businessman accordingly supplied the rice and followed Nnamani to the bank to receive his payment through bank transfer.
Quoting the PPRO, “In the course of effecting the payment, Nnamani secretly left the bank, went back to the church, and made away with the bags of rice to an unknown destination.
“The suspect, however, could not run or hide for so long, as the police operatives, upon receiving the report, embarked on an intelligence-driven investigation, which led to his arrest on January 20, 2024, at Enene, Enugu.”
It was gathered that eight out of the eighteen 25 kg bags of rice were recovered from him, after he had re-bagged and sold the other bags at Oye Emene Market, Enugu.
The state police command assured that the suspect and his cohorts would be arraigned in court after investigation.
The command also advised the citizenry, particularly businessmen and women, to “be security conscious and wary of whom and how they transact in such circumstances to avoid falling prey to fraudulent suspects like Nnamani.”
The command called on victims of such fraud to report to the nearest police station.
