Rafiu Olusamokun, a suspected advance fee fraudster, has begged the police to forgive him, as he has repented from his sins.
Rafiu Olusamokun, told Crime Watch Today at a parade ground in police headquarters, Ikeja, Lagos, that once he was set free, he would become a Muslim cleric.
He was arrested for allegedly swindling many people of several millions of money under the pretence to double money for them.
He said: “I am a 419 kingpin. I was into the business of selling used clothes (Okirika) at the Katangowa area of Lagos. I was making money, real money until I fell victim to fraudsters (419ners). They told me that they would help me to double some money.
“I asked them how, and they explained that they had some papers that were imported from Switzerland that they could change into dollars and pounds, if only I could provide them the money to buy some chemical.
“They said they had small quantity of the chemical that they would use to dramatise what they were explaining to me. As a practical man, I challenged them to do it and convince me. They brought out some papers from a box and poured some chemicals on them. The papers actually turned to 100 dollars. They now asked me to go to any Bureau de change and change the money to naira to verify the authenticity of their claim. When I went to a Bureau de change, the money was changed after the operators had verified that the dollar was genuine. I was so excited that I had to close my account. I withdrew N650,000 and handed it over to the idiots.
“They gave me time to come back for the money. I was expecting up to N6 million but when I went back to the house where we agreed to meet, they had abandoned the box, containing fake currencies, so I collected the box and left in agony.
“It was while I was thinking of what to do that the devil sold the idea to me to start using the same method they used in swindling me to dupe others. I now tried it and it worked successfully and I made cool money. I then recruited two other guys. I have been able to build a house, and bought some vehicles.
“I must confess that 419 is an evil business. Now that God has used the police to arrest me, I think I have repented. I want to become a Muslim Cleric so that I can preach to the people about the evil of 419. I want to beg the police to forgive me and let me go. I was really pushed into 419 by 419ners, who duped me of my life earnings and that pushed me into the business.”
The state Commissioner of Police, Mr. Fatai Owoseni, said the suspect would soon be charged to court while efforts were on to arrest other fleeing members of his gang.
Mr. Owoseni warned members of the public to be weary of business transactions with strangers.