A suspect, Oloniluyi Kolade, is in police net for attempting to charm and defraud a woman at an Automated Teller Machine (ATM) point in one of the commercial banks in Ado-Ekiti, the Ekiti State capital.
The woman, who identified herself as Olajumoke said she was at the ATM point of the bank located at Oke Ori-Omi, Ado-Ekiti, around 5:00pm on Monday to withdraw some money.
In the course of the transaction, she noticed that someone was standing closely behind her and she quickly looked back and saw the suspect and he asked her if the machine was dispensing, she replied she didn’t know.
She said the suspect started acting somehow and she explained to him that a box containing a notice was appearing on the screen and the letters were very tiny making it difficult for her to read.
Olajumoke said while she was trying to read the notice, the suspect started to press some buttons on the machine while her ATM card was inside and immediately she challenged him and cancelled the transaction and removed her card.
She inserted her card again and all of a sudden, the suspect highjacked the machine from her and started operating it while her card was still inside the ATM and when she challenged him he said he was trying to help her and she cancelled the transaction and removed her card.
Speaking with journalists, Olajumoke claimed that the suspect started mounting pressure on her to insert her card again but she refused.
She said, “I got to the ATM point around 5:00pm to withdraw some money, as I was trying to follow the commands on the ATM screen I noticed someone was standing closely behind me, I looked back and saw him(suspect)
” I noticed he tucked something inside his pocket and I looked at his pocket it was swelling and immediately I looked inside my bag and noticed the zip was opened, I checked to see if my phones and other things were not missing, so, I held my bag firmly.
” He asked if the machine was dispensing and I told him I didn’t know. He started acting as if he was in a haste and I explained to him that a box containing a notice was on the screen and I was trying to read it, that the letters were very tiny and the machine itself was having a blurry screen.
” As I was trying to read the notice on the screen he started to press some buttons on the machine and immediately I challenged him, he said he was trying to assist me and I pressed the cancel button and I removed my card.
” I inserted my card again and immediately he highjacked the machine from me and started pressing some buttons while my card was still inside the machine and when I challenged him he said I should allow him help me and I cancelled the process again and removed my card.
” At this point, he started mounting pressure on me that I should insert my card again and I refused, he insisted but I told him I won’t insert my card and he started pressing the buttons again, pretending as if he had his card inside the machine, then he turned to me and changed his countenance as if something had happened to his card and I asked for his ATM card, he answered that the machine had swallowed it.
” As we were talking, a man who also wanted to use the machine came, he ( suspect) immediately turned to the man and urged him to insert his card that the machine was dispensing. I interrupted him and told the man not to insert his card, but he (suspect) kept telling the man to insert his card and I insisted that the man should not but eventually the man listened to him and inserted it and immediately too, he started pressing some buttons on the machine while the man’s card was still inside the machine and the man immediately queried him and he said he was trying to help him because the screen was displaying a notice and I told the man to remove his card and he removed it.
” The suspect urged the man to insert his card again and I also told the man that he should not, he urged him further and the man listened again and inserted his card
” So, I told him(suspect) that since you said your card has been swallowed by the machine, go and inform the security officers of the bank, he said no need that he would come back the following day to complain but I insisted that he should go and he went and the officers told him to come back the following day.
” I told the man that the suspect was up to something with what he did on the ATM machine, it was at that time it dawned on the man and we called on him(suspect) and we started to interrogate him. I told the person whom we had gone to the ATM point together to call on the bank’s security officers and we reported the matter to them and they further interrogated him.
” In the course of the interrogation, I told the officers to search his pocket and they did. They brought out a packet of cigarettes containing some sticks of cigarettes, one phone charger (white), some objects tied inside a black nylon which he ( suspect) claimed were drugs meant to rob the legs of his mother who was sick.
” Upon further interrogation, we discovered that his earlier claim that his card had been swallowed by the ATM machine was not true because he confessed he didn’t come to the ATM point with any card, that his card was with his brother at home in Igbemo- Ekiti.
” After the interrogation, we went to report at one of the Police Area Commands in the metropolis, where one of the police officers brought out the contents inside the black nylon he earlier said was containing some drugs meant for his mother. Items inside the nylon include dry head of a snake (Cobra), a ring, native powder, a sheet of paper containing name and account details, and some other charms”.
During a thorough interrogation at the station, the suspect said he was working with one Alhaji Yinusa Bakare and had come from Igbemo-Ekiti to Ado-Ekiti that day to check whether the ATM was dispensing cash or not.
At the time of filing this report, the suspect has been detained at the Area Command. (TheSun)
