A dupe on Monday swindled a rice seller of two bags of rice after using a 15 years old boy he had never met as a surety with a promise to return immediately to pick the boy and pay for the rice.
The man whose identity is still shrouded in mystery made away with the rice after making the shop attendant to believe that the teenager, Seun Aderinwale was his own son, and he would return to pick him as soon as he was through in the bank where he would use his ATM Card,
The shop which is owned by a woman, simply identified as Iya Ibrahim is located at 4, Ifesowapo Street, Igando in Alimosho Local Government Area of Lagos State,
The rice seller was not available at the time but her son, Ibrahim, agreed to the man’s proposal to drop Seun, an Aluminum apprentice, as collateral, in order to collect the two bags of rice and return later to pay.
However, when the shop owner returned in the afternoon, she was surprised to see Seun who was dropped there in exchange for the two bags of rice taken away by the unidentified man.
When the man failed to return, the 15-year old was held hostage until evening when the pastor of his church, a Celestial Church of Christ around the area, saw him at the shop looking despondent.
When Seun was questioned on how he came about the fraudster, he said he met him casually at Hotel Bus Stop about 300 metres to his residence where a church member had sent him on an errand to play lotto, popularly known as “Baba Ijebu”.
Seun said he did not know the man’s house or have other information about him.
The teenager later regained his freedom when the Celestial Church pastor, known simply as Oluso in the neighborhood intervened.
It was gathered that the pastor pleaded to Iya Ibrahim to take responsibility for one of the stolen bags of rice while Seun’s father, a co-worker with him in the church, pay for the other bag of rice.
When Ibrahim was questioned why he allowed such an unusual arrangement, he told residents that the conman asked for two and half bags of rice, adding, “when the motorcycle was about to go with the two bags, I asked for the money but Seun assured me he was coming back for the half bag. He even claimed to be a close relation of the man.”
However, some hours after the man had disappeared and failed to return, Ibrahim said Seun retracted his earlier statement, saying he did not know the man.
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