In the Ijebu Ode area of Ogun State, a car dealer named Olatubosun Gafar found himself in distress when a customer named Segun Opeyemi sent him a fake alert of N6.2m and made off with one of his cars.
It was discovered that Opeyemi visited Gafar’s office last Wednesday and expressed interest in purchasing a Toyota Camry 2014 model Spyder that was parked on the premises.
According to Gafar, the 39-year-old customer returned the following morning, made payment for the car, and sent the receipt to him via WhatsApp messenger.
However, Gafar explained that after making the payment, Opeyemi requested to test drive the car and also withdraw money from a nearby bank.
Gafar accompanied Opeyemi in the car, but the situation took a turn when Opeyemi called his mother and informed her that he would be coming to see her in his new car.
At this point, Gafar received a call from the office instructing them to return and collect the receipt and new number plate for the car. However, Opeyemi refused, stating that he did not want to keep his mother waiting at a location called Sawmill bus stop in Ijebu Ode.
The buyer pleaded with Gafar, gave him N50,000, and promised to return in 10 minutes for the receipt and number plate. Gafar got out of the car and Opeyemi sped away.
Gafar said, “On Wednesday, around 4 pm at Ijebu Ode, beside Spicy Chicken, a man came into the office, saw a Spider Toyota Camry, a 2014 model and said he liked it and was interested in buying it.
“While he was checking the car, a friend I know called him and told him that they had found another car, that he should come to check it out and he collected my number and left.
“Thirty minutes later, he called me that he didn’t like the car he went to see, and that he would come the next morning to buy my car.
“On Thursday morning, he came, tested the car and said he liked it. He told me he had transferred the agreed N6.2m to my account and he sent the receipt to me on WhatsApp.
“I called someone to come and do the change of ownership and number plate.
“While we were waiting for the man to come, he said he wanted to withdraw small cash that he would give to the boys at a First Bank branch close to us, I accepted but joined him in the car.
“Getting to the bank, the crowd was much and he said we should move forward and see if we would find any Point of Sale agents to withdraw from.
“Driving there, he called his mother and told her he had bought a car and that he was coming to meet her at the Sawmill, that he wanted her to be the first to enter the car.
“Immediately, someone called me from the office that the person to do the number plate was waiting for us, so I told him to turn around so we could go and get it done but he pleaded with me that his mum would be waiting in the road. That I should please let him go and meet her.
“He gave me the particulars of the car and N50,000 to go and give the boys and also pay for the number plate, that he would be back in 10 minutes.
“I don’t know what he used on me, but that was how I got out of the vehicle and he drove off.”
Gafar lamented that he waited for the money to reflect in his account but it didn’t, so he visited a nearby Eco Bank and was informed that it was a fake alert.
“I tried calling the number he gave to me after the bank confirmed that it was a fake alert that he showed me, but his number has not been going. It was registered with an Aboki name,” he said.
Gafar reported the incident to the police at the Area Command, Igbeba Police Station, Ijebu Ode.
When contacted, the Ogun State Police Public Relations Officer, Omolola Odutola, stated that she was currently occupied with other matters but assured that she would respond to our correspondent. As of the time of filing this report, she had not provided a response.
She said, “Please, be patient. I have a lot that I am working on right now. I will get back to you once I get to the office.”
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