LAGOS- The Nigeria Police Force Murtala Muhammed International Airport (MMIA), Lagos Command has arrested and paraded five Covid-19 certificate suspects at the airport, while two others are still at large.
The suspects, Achibong Idonrenyin, Moses Samuel, Popoola Adewala, Wale Aderele and Abdulmalik Ibrahim, police said major in selling fake Covid-19 negative certificates to unsuspecting travellers within the international wing of the airport.
The suspects at large are Shehu Imam and Adeola Dalington who works with Sky Blue Services limited, a cleaning service at the airport.
Briefing journalists on Thursday in his office at the airport, Mr. Bature Umar, the Commissioner, Airports Command, said that the incident occurred on February 19, 2021 at the airport where a British Airways passenger, Michael Osagbogun was defrauded of the sum of N50,000 for Covid-19 test.
According to the Commissioner, one of the suspects had approached Osagbogun promising to produce a Covid-19 test negative certificate for him.
Two of the suspects, Popoola Adewale and Adeola Dalington, who knew the airport environment well due to the nature of their jobs at the airport, he said allegedly took the victim to one of the toilet facilities at the airport where the sum of N50,000 was obtained from him under the pretext of producing a valid Covid-19 negativecertificate for the victim.
Umar explained that one of the suspects, took the victim to DAT Cybercafe at No. 4, Oriyomi Street, Ikeja where a fake Covid-19 positive certificate was eventually procured for him.
