A prosecution witness and a victim in an ongoing spiritual cleansing scam trial, Dr. Lateef Oladimeji Bello, has told Justice Rahman Oshodi of a Lagos Special Offences Court, sitting in Ikeja that the defendants went to Saudi Arabia, after defrauding him and his wife.
Bello told the court that one of the defendants, Alaka told his wife that they have been defrauded and that they must not disclose to anybody.
Bello the prosecution witness in his testimony in an ongoing trial of seven defendants who allegedly obtained the sum of £1 million from him and his wife by false pretence.
The defendants: Morufu Adewale Yahaya, Omitogun Ajayi, Ajisegiri Abiodun, Abayomi Kamaldeen Alaka, Taiwo Olamilekan Ahmed, Raufu Wale Raheem, and Owolabi Teslim Sanlabiu, were re-arraigned on amended three-count charge by the Economic and Financial Crimes Commission (EFCC).
The EFCC alleged that the defendants obtained the sum of £1 million from Dr. and Dr. (Mrs.) Lateef Oladimeji Bello, to conduct prayers for spiritual cleansing of the family and that the money will be refunded after the prayers within one week, which pretence they knew to be false.
The suspects allegedly obtained the sum of N175 million between August and September 2018 from the couple.
Their alleged offence bordered on conspiracy to obtain money by false pretence contrary to the provision of Section 1(1)(a) and 1(3) of the Advance Fee Fraud and Other Fraud Related Offences Act 2006 and contrary to the provision of Section 410 of the Criminal Law of Lagos State 2011.
They pleaded not guilty to the amended charge. They were initially arraigned before Justice Oluwatoyin Taiwo before she retired and the matter was transferred to the court presided over by Justice Oshodi and started denovo (afresh).
So during the trial on Monday, the witness recounted how they were led to a shrine in a bid to carry out spiritual cleansing. He said Sanlabiu, and his driver, went there with the ram, which we bought at Ijebu-Ode, and that they needed some other prayers for the family. “On getting there, they slaughtered the ram and some other things, after which they said I should remove my dress and gave me a wrapper to cover myself.
“Two days later, myself, Ajayi, the alfa, Sanlabiu, and my driver, went there with the ram, which we bought at Ijebu-Ode, and we needed some other prayers for the family. On getting there, they slaughtered the ram and some other things, after which they said I should remove my dress and gave me a wrapper to cover myself.
“They now took me to one place, where they were boiling water, and I saw the water boiling and they poured the water on my head, but it was very cold. After this, they did the same to my wife and they said they were going to take us to another room in the same house; we knocked on the door, and we started hearing some noise from some women.
“They now opened the door, and immediately we entered the room using our back, we now saw about nine women wearing white clothes. They claimed to be white witches and said that they were there to help us. They said, though they have finished with my son, that we have a lot of spiritual problems in my family, and my extended family.”
The witness further told the court that they told him they have done their investigation, and that his wife will soon retire. They told me that another bigger office was ahead of my wife and that we still need to do a lot of spiritual cleansing for the whole family for her to get there.
“They now demand ‘oropo kan’ (translated to one million in the English language) and it was my first time hearing that; emphasizing that it should have the picture of a woman and must be red.
“When we now got to the room where Yahaya was, he was the one that now interpreted that what the white witches meant was one million British Pounds.
And that, once we get the one million pounds, it will be put in a box, and that after one week, we are going to be given our money back, and then there will be an ornament under the money, which my wife will be expected to be on my wife, and they named it ‘Oluomo’.
“My lord, they were in total control of our senses, before we left that day, Yahaya instructed Taiwo, to give us the account number of one Gbegulerin Adelana (the alias of Morufu Yahaya), that we needed to buy some things before the £1million and so demanded N1million which I paid into the account.
“Thereafter, they said that those witches only drink the blood of pigeons, and so collected N200,000 to buy pigeons for those witches, and N10,000 for the cage as they said they’ll buy them at Sagamu.”
The fraud victim told the court that Ajayi kept assuring them that they were at the right place.
However, at the resumed proceeding yesterday, the witness told the court that Alaka told him and his wife that his share was N250 million and that they (victims) must not tell anybody.
The witness in his examination-in-chief, led in evidence by the prosecution counsel, U.K Ukoha said, “The day we went to Ijebu-Ode and discovered that the £800,000 was no longer in the box, I called my wife to say there’s no money in the box, and there was no ornament (Oluomo).
“Immediately we got to Lagos, my wife called Alaka, who now said that we have been defrauded and that his share was N250 million and that if we love our life we should not report to anybody and move on with our life.”
Thereafter, Ukoha sought to tender in evidence the petition the victim wrote to the EFCC and the statement he gave to the EFCC.
There was no objection from the first to fourth defendant’s counsel, Olalekan Ojo (SAN) of and fifth defendants; A. Apanisile, counsel for the sixth defendant, and Olalekan Idowu, counsel for the seventh defendant.
The judge, therefore, admitted the documents as exhibits.
When the witness was however cross-examined by Ojo (SAN), Bello maintained that Alaka was the leader of the syndicate and that he gave instructions to the others to carry out. He told the court that he got information that the defendants went to Saudi Arabia (Mecca).
He told the court that he saw on Facebook that they posted their photograph of Rauf and Alaka standing. He added that it was their phone number that the EFCC used to track them and got them arrested.
Bello further told the court that he met Alaka in the shrine sometime in July/August 2018 and insisted that they do not collect transfers, but always in cash.
” The first time we visited Omitokun in Igbogbi, Ikorodu, he gave us cola nut and concoction to drink. He asked us to go to Ijebu Igbo. All that time we are not in our right senses. We are under their spell. I did not report to the police or EFCC.
During the cross-examination, the defense also sought to tender in evidence, the Zenith Bank account statement of the defence. There was no objection from the prosecution and it was admitted in evidence.
Justice Rahman subsequently adjourned to July 7, 2023, for the continuation of the cross-examination.
