Lagos — It sounds like a well-crafted fiction, or a mimic of the famed Hollywood display. It went on for 12 years uninterrupted until nemesis ripped its bag of tricks and smiled angrily on a bad day. Though, not new, the act, however, appeared weird and daring.

Olusegun Hassan and Segun Makinde had masqueraded as Group Captain and Air Craftsman respectively, using such impersonations to profit illegally for years. Although, the long arm of the law had been patient, it, nonetheless, waited for the twosome unpleasantly.

The "frauds" were arrested in Fagba, Agege axis of Lagos State on Tuesday, March 2, at about 9a.m. by Air Force personnel attached to Operation MESA, on a routine patrol. Hassan, according to reports, had, before now, been arrested on three occasions for similar offence by military police and subsequently handed over to the police for prosecution. He equally had been arraigned in competent law courts in circumstances not different from the current ordeal. But, how he wriggles out of trouble at such instances remains a mystery and has confounded not a few.

While briefing newsmen over the arrest of the duo at the Logistics Command Headquarters, Ikeja, Lagos on Tuesday, March 9, Commander 435, Base Services Group (BSG), Group Captain Ayo Sa'ad Abdulsalam, stressed that the same prime suspect, three years ago, was a guest of the command where he was once brought before the provost squadron and his subsequent handover to the police for necessary actions when he was arrested for impersonating as a wing commander.

The Group Captain noted that, it had become imperative to expose the recent arrest of the two suspects, who had been masquerading as personnel of the Nigerian Air Force (NAF) and their nefarious activities, especially in defrauding unsuspecting members of the public. He also said that the NAF was mindful of the negative consequences the activities of the two men may have impacted on the general security of the state, and as a matter of urgency, needed to dissociate the fraudsters from genuine members of NAF.

He said during their preliminary investigation that Hassan confessed to have been based in Cotonou, the Republic of Benin, where he smuggled 'tokunbo' cars into the country, using the NAF uniform to beat security checks at the border posts. The suspects, according to the NAF authorities, equally owned up to using the military uniform to dupe unsuspecting victims of their money on pretence to offer one form of assistance or the other.

Among the victims, who had fallen prey to the antics of the suspects included the Seriki Hausawa in-charge of Agege Abattoir, Adeniji Adedayo and Richard Ebhodaghe.

The Seriki, who wanted to enlist his son, Ibrahim Ladde into the Air Force by securing provisional admission into the Nigerian Defence Academy (NDA), Kaduna, coughed out, on request, a sum of N350, 000. According to Abdulsalam, the confession of the 47-year-old suspect had contradicted his earlier statement when he claimed he had only collected the sum of N120, 000, instead of the N350, 000 when the Seriki was brought to confront him with the allegation.

Another victim, Adeniji Adedayo, it was alleged, claimed to have paid a sum of N35, 000 to the Ipetu- Ijesha, Osun State-born suspect to enable him secure his enlistment into the Nigerian Air Force in 2009. Interestingly, however, Hassan recruited one Babatunde Mustapha to act as his orderly in order to make his activities looked genuine to unsuspecting public.

The Commander revealed that both suspects dressed in the NAF uniform, collected a sum of N50, 000 in two installments from one Ebhodaghe sometime in November 2009, to assist him recover a seized car in custody of the police in Odogbolu, Ogun State. Having succeeded in effecting the release of the car, while impersonating as an Air Force officer, it was said that Hassan borrowed the black coloured Toyota Camry Saloon Car, marked CN 323 APP, Lagos from Ebhodaghe but failed to return it to its owner. But upon his arrest, with his orderly, Makinde Segun, the vehicle was recovered from his custody.

A search on his home led to the recovery of complimentary cards, bearing the insignia of the Nigerian Coat of Arms, National Flag, a picture of a former military Head of State, General Ibrahim Babangida and the name of Olusegun Hassan, as a pilot to the former leader. Other items recovered included fake notification of admission letter into the NDA purportedly issued in the name of Bello Ibrahim Ladde, written on the presidency letterhead paper, three ECOWAS passports, belonging to different bearers and a Federal Government rubber stamp/pad.

The Air Force officer averred that Hassan claimed to have stolen the various NAF uniforms found in his possession from a cousin, Squadron Leader Dele Olarinoye, who had since retired from active service. The suspect added that he bought the uniform accoutrements from the National Defence College (NDC), Abuja. The commandant while reacting to this revelation said, "though both claims are doubtful and yet to be ascertained, we can not rule out the possibility of some insider accomplice to Hassan. While the NAF is poised to ensure that insider accomplice, if any, are brought to book, we are duty-bound to act in line with legal provisions that guide the conduct of criminal investigations and subsequent treatment of suspects or accused persons. "Since Hassan is not subject to military laws, and therefore cannot be tried under service jurisdiction, we wish to hand over the suspects to the civil police for prosecution. Both suspects will be transferred to the police immediately after this briefing. By this, we intend to ensure that the rights of the accused persons are not violated in the course of dispensing justice," said the Commander.

In an encounter with Daily Independent, Hassan admitted culpability to the crime. According to him, he had had problems with the security agencies at the border posts in the course of smuggling 'tokunbo' cars into the country. He also disclosed how he lost seven cars to customs personnel, who impounded the vehicles on the excuse of being contraband. Yet, that did not dissuade him and his gang. It was after that encounter, according to Hassan, that he had to procure the military uniform to beat security checks at the border posts.

He further claimed to have known Ebhodaghe, one of the victims, through his younger brother, Stanley. One Kehinde, who happened to be his neighbour along Seliat International School Street, Egbeda, he said, introduced him to Stanley as a Group Captain.

"Kehinde and Stanley are two good friends. It was Kehinde who told me that Richard's car had been impounded and would want me to assist them to secure its release. Without wasting time, I asked for a sum of N200, 000 to secure the release because I learnt that the car was impounded on an allegation that the owner was a yahoo guy," he said.

But Ebhodaghe dismissed every bit of the allegation, saying he also offered a sum of N20, 000 to the suspect to buy a ram to celebrate last year Sallah festivity after he had assisted him to effect the release of his vehicle from the police custody. Initially, he stated that he had given a sum of N50, 000 to Hassan, as against his earlier request for N200, 000.

On another occasion, he disclosed he accommodated Hassan to pass a night in his home in December last year until he requested to use his vehicle to buy an item in the neighbourhood and subsequently, bolted away, with the car. Yet, he claimed not to have known that the suspect was a fake Group Captain in the Nigerian Air Force because, "at a time he had the score to settle with the police. Hassan wore the uniform to the office of Ijebu-Ode Area Commander and he was accorded full military honour and recognition by the Assistant Commissioner of Police (ACP) in-charge."

On how he met and recruited Makinde as his orderly, the 47-years-old suspect said he met his accomplice, a 'Man O War' personnel last year where he and his colleagues were having a camp meeting at Dairy Farm School, Sango, Ogun State, when he was returning to Nigeria with a 'tokunbo' car.

"When I met him, because he was dressed in a 'Man O War' uniform, I picked interest and felt he could be of assistance in my 'tokunbo' business. I approached him and we exchanged mobile numbers. Last week, I called from Cotonou and asked him to meet me at a carwash close to Pen Cinema, Agege. It was along that area we were arrested by the Air Force personnel," he said.

Makinde, until his travail, was a provost in the 'Man O War' attached to Alimosho Local Government Area of Lagos State. He denied, in his own confession, ever knowing that Hassan was a fake Group Captain, but corroborated the confession of the criminal when he admitted meeting him during one of their camp meetings at Sango, Ogun State. "Our relationship, even though we met only twice, blossomed over time," Makinde said.