Messrs. Walter Joseph Rugbere, Marvel Akpoyibo, retired Commissioner of Police and Deputy Inspector-General of Police (DIG) respectively, and one Kunle Bada have been accused of conspiracy to defraud one Mr. Kunle Akintoye, a Lagos businessman, of the sum of N5,610,000.
Mr. Akintoye claimed to have supplied Automated Gas Oil, popularly called diesel, worth of N5,610,000 to Mr. Rugbere’s filling station in Akure and was issued a Guaranty Trust Bank cheque as payment for the product in March 2013. The cheque, which belonged to Mr. Rugbere, was not honored when presented in the bank.
The businessman said attempts to get Mr. Rugbere to pay up were futile, despite reporting the matter at a police station in Akure. Consequently, he took the matter to the State Criminal Investigation Department of the Police at Panti, Yaba in Lagos.
He appeared to be making progress when a freeze order was placed on the account. But in reality, things were getting more difficult. Mr. Akintoye told SaharaReporters that the officer in charge of the matter, Mr. Moruff Animashaun, Bada and himself were summoned by Mr. Akpoyibo, who was still in service. Mr. Akopoyibo, alleged the businessman, ordered the officer in charge to immediately lift the freeze order on the account.
The businessman said Mr. Akpoyibo did not ask how Bada got Mr. Rugbere’s cheque that was issued to him for the transaction.
Mr. Akintoye said he was ordered out of Mr. Akpoyibo’s office when he asked Mr. Rugbere why he did not raise an alarm that his cheque was stolen. He said he also asked the retired police commissioner why he did not get the person who attempted to make a withdrawal with the purportedly stolen cheque arrested.
“Mr. Akpoyibo sent me out of the meeting because I asked the CP questions he could not answer. I stayed outside still they finished the meeting. When they came out, I asked the officer in charge of my case what they discussed and he told me that he was instructed to unfreeze the account immediately. The man who gave me the cheque was not detained or arrested. He was not even asked where he got it from,” lamented Mr. Akintoye.
The businessman claimed that he has been making efforts to get his money, including petitioning the Economic and Financial Crimes Commission (EFCC), but has been unsuccessful.
Mr. Akintoye added that the case was charged to court, but Mr. Rugbere and his lawyer tricked him out of litigation and the matter was subsequently struck out by Justice Muhammed Buba of the Federal High Court, Ikoyi, Lagos.
He alleged that on the day the matter was to be called in court, the officer-in-charge told him that there was an arrangement for settlement at the police station. He was then taken to the police station, where he was detained for four hours, resulting in his non-appearance and lack of representation in court. This, he said, caused his matter to be struck out.
“They took me to station that they had arranged to settle out of court. But when I got the station, there was nothing like that. They detained me. I started shouting, broke a bottle and threatened to stab myself. It was when Mr. Rugbere heard me shouting that he called us into his office. He told me that he did not ask them to take me away from the court. We rushed back to court, but my matter had already been struck out,” he said.
Mr. Akintoye explained that he was able to recover some money from Bada through alternative means, but attempts to recover all his money are being frustrated by the influence of Messrs. Rugbere and Akpoyibo in the Nigerian Police. He added that he has had to sell his properties to pay his creditor, who grew impatient to the point of getting him detained by the Police for two weeks.
“I sold the house I built for my mother at No. 34, Oderemi Abatan Surulere Street, Agbado Crossing, Lagos, and my Toyota Camry (Muscle) car. All these were sold to offset bank loans. I am now crying to concern Nigerians to please come to my aid, save my life from Nigerian Police,” he lamented. - SR
Dud Cheque
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