A man, Anthony Okolie, who was recently released from the custody of the Department of State Services (DSS) was allegedly using a phone number that belonged to President Muhammadu Buhari’s daughter, Hanan, to defraud unsuspecting persons, a reliable security source disclosed to The Nation at the weekend.
A reliable source revealed to that the number belonged to Hanan, but after not using it for a while, the number got dormant was reassigned as is the usual practice with mobile service providers.
The source revealed that Okolie, who eventually got the line on realising who the previous owner is, due the the calls he was receiving, decided to use it to make money for himself.
It was learnt he used female accomplices to pretend to be the president’s daughter and extort money from unsuspecting victims.
“It was when someone who knew Hanan very well called and suspected something was fishy that he decided to report the matter to the DSS, who investigated and arrested the suspect.
“Okolie was held on criminal intent not because of the line he owned. It is standard practice that when line has been dormant for a long time, service providers reassign lines.
The person who inherited it discovered who the former owner was and realized a fraudulent intent. He got some female accomplices who spoke Hausa and to collect money from unsuspecting persons who thought they were relating with the president’s daughter.
“One of his potential victims suspected something fishy when he called the line and the person he spoke with who claimed to be Hanan begged for money.
The man immediately got doubtful as Hanan was supposed to be out of the country at that time and even if she was not, would not have requested for such money.
“The man then laid an official complaint after which investigations began and the suspect was arrested,” the source said.
