A 37-year-old man arrested by the
operatives of Rapid Response Squad of the
Lagos State Police Command for
impersonating officials of the Lagos State
Land Use Charge has blamed unemployment
as the cause of his action. Olaitan
Shofolahan, an Accounting graduate of
Moshood Abiola Polytechnic, Abeokuta,
Ogun State, was arrested on Thursday in
Lekki Phase 1, in Eti-Osa Local Government
Area of Lagos.
He was arrested while attempting to defraud
a resident of the posh estate of several
millions Land Use Charge dues. The
suspect, who was working in his brother’s
audit firm in Sabo, Yaba area of Lagos,
before abandoning the job in search of
better offer.
He stated that his moves to join the Lagos
State Public Service were frustrated by lack
of vacancy.
According to the suspect:
“I was working with my brother in his
audit firm in Sabo, Yaba, earning
N45,000 monthly salary before I left
the firm in search of employment…. I
was at Lagos State Civil Service
Commission several times to seek
employment. It was during one of my
visits that I learnt that payment for
Land Use Charge in the state is
through a code. The code is
engraved on every metal sticker
issued to every house.”
“It is with this code that you get an
annual bill of the house and that you
can get your charges printed out for
you free with the bills. That was how
I started moving round choice
location to get their code and print
their bills…. Any house that does not
owe, I discard but those with huge
bills, I work on them. But I noticed
that some of them requested for my
id–card. I forged a Lagos State
Government identity card using a
sample that I saw somewhere in
Alausa Secretariat, Ikeja,” he said.
He added;
“I have being in the business since
February, 2015. I have observed that
owners of buildings in Lekki have
capacity to settle their bills quickly,
that was why I have focused there.
Unfortunately for me, it was this
location that I was caught…. I entered
the building in Lekki Phase 1,
unknown to me that the officials of
the Lagos State Land Use Charge
were there with the house owner. I
saw the owner discussing with them
but I didn’t know their identity. The
owner of the building after sitting me
down, invited RRS officials to arrest
me.”
Shofolahan explained further; “since I have
been impersonating, I have only realised
N30,000 which I collected from an home
owner in Alausa while pretending to be an
official of the State. I have not collected any
other money apart from that. Each and
every time I visited these buildings, they ask
me to come back later”.
Found with the suspect after his arrest were
five land use bills with varied charges above
N1 million and a forged identity card of The
Lagos State Government.
Confirming the incident, the Police PPRO,
ASP Olarinde Famous Cole, said that there
would be no hiding place for criminals in
Lagos State adding that officers of the
command are at alert to nip crime in the
bud.
The suspect has been transferred to the
State Criminal Investigation Department,
Panti, Yaba, for further investigations.
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