A 62-year-old self-acclaimed colonel, one Babatunde Idris, has been arrested by the Oyo State Police Command.
Parading the fake colonel before newsmen in Ibadan, the state Commissioner of Police, CP, Leye Oyebade, said Idris was arrested after a petition was filed against him for parading himself as a colonel in the Nigerian Army where he used a fake identity card to defraud one Yinusa Mustapha to the tune of N40m.

According to the CP, “Following a petition received alleging the fraudulent activities of Idris, the command’s Anti-kidnapping Squad swung into action and arrested the suspect, who until his arrest had fraudulently obtained various sums of money from his victims.”

“The suspect promised his last victim, Mustapha, that he would help him to get a certificate for oil importation since 2012, but failed to complete the deal after the money was paid into his account.”

Oyebade said the suspect forged various letterheads of the Nigerian Army which he issued to unsuspecting individuals and corporate organisations soliciting assistance.

“He also had multiple identities under fake names all bearing the status of a colonel,” the Commissioner added.

Confessing before newsmen, the suspect said he collected the money from his victim in installments, but denied that the money was up to N40m.

“I collected N16m from him claiming to be a colonel in the army. Mustapha wanted me to help him to collect certificate of oil lifting and because I knew people who could do it, I took the money from him, but the deal failed.

“I signed the form, but truly I am not a military man. One of my brothers is a general in the army. One day, he gave me a letter to help somebody, so I made a copy of it,” Idris added.