An ex-policeman, Charles Egbusoma, was on Thursday paraded at the Lagos State Police command for alleged impersonation.


According to the police, Egbusoma has in the last two years been impersonating some of the past Inspector Generals of Police, including Tafa Balogun, Musiliu Smith and Ogbona Onovo.


He was also accused of having swindled some prominent Nigerians as well as high ranking police officers using the names of the former IGPs.


The suspect, who was sacked in 2003 for absconding for 25 days without permission, was arrested by the police in his Mararaba, Abuja residence when he attempted to swindle a commandant, MOPOL 22, Abubakar Yakubu.


According to a source, he will send the bank account number of his ex-girlfriend, Josephine Ofekere, whom he normally called his secretary to his victims. Afterwards, he would use the lady‘s ATM card to withdraw the money.


Charles confessed he had also duped some of his victims to the tune of N700,000.


A police officer said, “He has been doing for so long. He has the phone numbers of the President, the Vice-President, about 35 senators and many high-ranking police officers, many of the past IGs and AIGs including commissioners of police.


“He sends text messages to them as though he is a retired Inspector-General of Police. He was using Smiths, Balogun, Onovo. He would say he was sick and was receiving treatment and that life had not been easy after retirement and that he needed financial assistance for treatment abroad.


“From some of the messages we retrieved from him, he has sent text messages to many governors and deputy governors but God exposed him when he sent the same message to Commandant, Mopol 22.


“Abubakar, being an intelligent man, played along as though he was falling for his tricks but he was strategising underground. When he eventually sent Abubakar an account number, we went to court and got court order to investigate the account.


“Eventually we picked up the owner of the account who happened to be his ex-girlfriend. She gave us details of his nefarious activities and address in Abuja. We later arrested him at his residence in Mararaba area of Abuja.”


The Delta State born-suspect told our correspondent that he took to crime as a means of survival having lost his job as police constable two years ago.
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