The Nigeria Security and Civil Defence Corps (NSCDC) in Osun state has arrested a syndicate who were alleged to have specialised in mobile phone theft and defrauding unsuspecting members of the public.

The suspects, Kayode Owoseni (35), a two-time ex-convict, resident of Agbode Street, Oke Baale; Olasunkanmi Adesina (42), resident of Oke-Ayepe, a suspected cultist and Kehinde Bankole (32), resident of Idi-Omo, Sabo Road, all in Osogbo, the Osun state capital.

The state commandant of NSCDC, Dr Michael Adaralewa, in a statement made available to Blueprint by the spokesperson of the command, Kehinde Adeleke, Sunday, said the arrest followed a complaint from one of their victims, whose phone was stolen.

Adaralewa said the complainant alleged that two persons came to her shop at Inisa in Odo-on local government to buy sachet water and they told her phone while she was attending to them.

“Upon her complaint, the command swung into action and members of the syndicate were arrested on 1st July 2024. A diligent investigation revealed that one of the suspects, Kayode Owoseni, had been convicted twice for a similar offence.

“While making his confessional statement, Owoseni said he learnt the act of pickpocketing from his friends and their base is at Oja-oba, Osogbo.

“In his statement, Adeshina Olasunkanmi said he belongs to a cult group known as ‘’Eta Fraternity. He confessed that the stolen phones had been sold, but before then he used the phone’s Subscriber Identification Module (SIM) card to call unsuspecting members of the public, pretending to be an old man who mistakenly dialled phone numbers.

“He would in the course of the conversation tell the receiver of the call that, he is a herbalist and would want to offer assistance with money rituals. Members of the public who fell for the trap had sent money to him for sacrifice and he later destroyed the SIM cards, to obliterate evidence.

“The suspect further revealed that he worked in collaboration with a man he referred to as ‘JEEGUN,’ and both of them have been defrauding members of the public of their hard-earned money for fifteen years,” Adaralewa said.