LAGOS—POLICE in Lagos State have arrested a 54-year-old man alleged to be an expert in swindling unsuspecting members of the public by selling fake mobile phones as genuine ones to them.

The suspect identified as Michael Bisa, was weekend arrested along Oshodi-Apapa Expressway at about 5: 50 pm, when the policemen attached to Rapid Response Squad, RRS, on patrol, suspected his movements on sighting him.

Confessing to the crime, the suspect, who is a native of Delta State, said poverty led him into the act of duping innocent people.

Explaining the tactics employed to swindle his victims under false pretense,  Bisa said: “What I usually do is called exchange. My prospective victims will have the mind of buying handset from me but unknown to them, I would have changed the real handset to soap wrapped with cut-to-size carton put inside an envelope. I will engage them in discussion after showing them the real phone initially, and in the process of bargaining for the price, I will change it with the aid of white handkerchief to fake phone. And I will tell them to keep the phone inside their pockets immediately, that people are watching us. As soon as they leave the spot, I will change my clothes to make it difficult for them to identify me in case the victim discovers that he has been duped.”

The suspect who has four children from three different women, explained that his friend, Hakeem Tijani, now late, introduced him to the act of stealing.

“I was a refrigerator technician in Uvwie Local Government Area, Effuru in Delta State before I came to Lagos to look for greener pastures about 15 years ago.  But my expectations were dashed when situations got so hard for me in the center of excellence. I met one ypung man then, Hakeem Tijani, he is late now, and he was the one that introduced this act of stealing to me. Since that time, about four years ago, this act of stealing has been my only source of livelihood.”

The suspect, who looked frail, said he was a drug addict, saying “my first wife taught me how to smoke all sorts of hard drugs including cocaine. She later died from the complications she suffered due to much intake of hard drugs.”

The Police Public Relations Officer, PPRO, Deputy Superintendent of Police, DSP, Joe Offor, confirmed the arrest.

Items such as fake phones, key soap cut- to- size, shirts, money, packet of envelopes and cut-to-size cartons, were recovered from him.