The Police in Akwa Ibom State has arrested a pastor and a five-man syndicate for allegedly swindling desperate youths in Ikot Ebok village, Eket local government area, seeking for jobs in oil companies.
It was learnt that Rev. A. Akpan and five other suspects were arrested at the premises of Qua Iboe Church along Ekpeyo street, off Liverpool road Eket, where they were conducting fake interviews to defraud 300 young job seekers.
Youth leader of the community, Mr Ubong Edoho, said he called in the Police to smash the gang when a crowd of unemployed youths gathered in the Church compound to screen for job opportunities in Agip Oil company in Port Harcourt, Rivers State.
Edoho said he discovered that the Pastor and the syndicate had collected N32,000 each from the applicants, after issuing a fake form for the job seekers to fill in preparation for their departure to an unknown offshore location for the jobs.
He revealed that the syndicate told the Divisional Police Officer in Eket that they were authorized by Agip Oil company to recruit personnel for them, but failed to produce relevant documents to justify their claims.
He noted that the syndicate had defrauded people at Afaha Eket, Ikot Ekpene and Eastern Obolo through their same means, and wondered why they would use the Church to commit such a crime without recourse to the consequences.
“The incident happened here in the premises of Qua Iboe Church, Ekpeyo street, Ikot Ebok. We had intelligence information that there are some people in the Church compound defrauding some unemployed youths.
“I went to Eket Police station with my friends and reported the matter to the Police Surveillance Team. On inquiry, we discovered that they had collected N32,000 from each person on that ground.
“We informed other youth leaders in the area and resolved that this kind of fraudulent activity can not happen in our village and the Police whisked them away to Eket Police station where they were interrogated.”
“There was no originating document from Agip Oil company to show that they were working for the firm. I was with the DPO in his office in Eket and we could not find any paper to show what they claimed and the police detained them,” he stated.
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