What A Thief: Nigerian student steals N1m worth of phones with fake identity

Eric Idowu, an alleged student of the University of Lagos has disappeared since collecting phones on the pretext of checking them out.

Azeez Bakare, a member of the National Youth Service Corps and occasional phone merchant has been duped of over N1,000,000 in phones — three used iPhone 8 Plus phones and one brand new iPhone X.

According to Punch Nigeria, an individual by the name o Eric Idowu had ordered and collected phones, under the name, Leonard Adegoke on August 2, 2018. Azeez only found out his real name after he was in the wind, using True Caller.

Azeez recalls the event, saying, “When I got there, I followed him to the front of his room where he checked the phones to see if they were working perfectly. After he was convinced, he collected the phones and asked for my account number, which I provided. A minute later, he showed me a debit alert on his phone and said the money had been transferred into my account”.

“Both of us waited for me to receive the alert on my phone. While waiting, he said he wanted to go downstairs to turn on his generator. That was the last time I saw him as he ran away. When I searched around and could not find him. I called his telephone number, but it was switched off” Azeez continues.

The matter has since been reported to the Police, “The case is under investigation; we are making efforts to arrest the boy who defrauded the NYSC member.

"It is sad that somebody will do something of such to a young man who was trying to be self-reliant. The Commissioner of Police has ordered SARS to ensure the arrest of the perpetrator of this crime to serve as a deterrent to others” Lagos State Police Public Relations Officer, CSP Chike Oti, said.