The Department of State Services (DSS) has arrested a 42-year-old man, Mohammed Prince Momoh, for posing as an aide to the Chief of Staff to the President, Ibrahim Gambari, to defraud one Benson Aniogo of $50, 000.
Momoh attempted to defraud Aniogu, claiming he represented Gambari and needed the said amount to secure an appointment for him as a Special Adviser to the President on Oil and Gas.
Public Relations Officer, DSS National Headquarters, Abuja, Dr. Peter Afunanya, who paraded the suspect, an indigene of Kogi State, on Tuesday, said their investigations revealed that Momoh and his group never acted on behalf of or for the Chief of Staff.
Afunanya said the suspect had approached Aniogu, from Bayelsa State, telling him he was a security aide attached to Gambari. Momoh had claimed that $25, 000 would be for the Chief of Staff while the remaining would be for the “boys” who would help secure the appointment.
The DSS Spokesman said Momoh had worked briefly some time ago as an aide to someone in the Presidential Villa and had some knowledge of the workings of the environment.
Momoh and his team had visited Aniogu in his house in Abuja to collect the money.
Afunanya said Aniogu suspected they were fraudulent and alerted authorities leading to a sting operation that was conducted by the Service, where Momoh was nabbed.
Afunanya said Momoh would face the full weight of the law.
The DSS Spokesman advised that people who use social media should mind the kind of information they drop in their space, as there are always criminal elements harvesting information to use and defraud unsuspecting people.
He called on Nigerians to be cautious and avoid being greedy and desperate so as not to fall victim to fraudsters.
“They should be wary and ask questions when and where they need to. For every suspicion of crime please relate to appropriate security agencies and pass information timely to them so they needful can be done,” he said.
He said Nigerians should be aware such syndicates exist, adding that the Service would continue to disrupt their activities and continue to do all that is needful within the law to ensure that no law-abiding citizen is taken advantage of by criminal elements.
“We reassure Nigerians that the DSS as a responsible, foremost, domestic intelligence agency in Nigeria would continue to perform its duties without any fear or favour,” he said.
Momoh, who said he is married with two children, admitted to the crime.
He said he worked in the Villa between 2013 and 2014.
