The Ebonyi State Police Command has apprehended a 31-year-old man, Benjamin Ufoh, on allegations of defrauding St. Augustine Seminary College in Ezzamgbo, Ohaukwu Local Government Area of Ebonyi State, of the sum of N425,000.

Ufoh was taken into custody by the Special Weapons and Tactics (SWAT) unit following a petition submitted by the college’s solicitor, Sampson Ekigbo, to the state Commissioner of Police.

According to the petition filed by the school, it is alleged that the suspect approached the college’s Rector in November 2022, falsely representing himself as a staff member of a health company.

It was later discovered that Ufoh was actually a salesman for a marketing company with offices in Abuja and Lagos.

Under the guise of being a staff member of the health company, Ufoh convinced the Rector that he could supply cushion massaging machines to the college. Based on this representation, the college was persuaded to pay the sum of N425,000.00 to Ufoh for the purchase of the said machines.

However, subsequent to the transaction, the college neither heard from Ufoh nor received the promised machines. A letter was sent to the company in May 2023, but no response was received. Consequently, the college finds itself perplexed as Ufoh has absconded with their money.

The college’s lawyer pleaded with the Commissioner of Police to take the necessary action by apprehending and prosecuting Benjamin Ufoh, highlighting the potential threat his continued presence poses to Nigerian citizens who could fall victim to his fraudulent activities.

At the time of this report, the police command was in the process of arranging the suspect’s arraignment. Efforts to obtain a statement from Ufoh were unsuccessful as our reporter visited the SWAT office where he was detained pending arraignment.