Nigeria Police, Murtala Muhammed International Airport, Lagos Command has arrested and paraded five suspects at the airport for issuing fake COVID-19 certificate.
The arrested suspects have been identified as Achibong Idonrenyin, Moses Samuel, Popoola Adewala, Wale Aderele and Abdulmalik Ibrahim, and while two others who are at large are identified as Shehu Imam and Adeola Dalington, who work with Sky Blue Services limited, a cleaning service at the airport.
Briefing journalists on Thursday, the Commissioner, Airports Command, Mr Bature Umar, said the incident occurred on February 19 at the airport where a British Airways passenger, Michael Osagbogun, was defrauded of N50,000 for COVID-19 test.
According to the commissioner, one of the suspects 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, allegedly took the victim to one of the toilet facilities at the airport where the N50,000 was collected.
Umar explained that one of the suspects took the victim to DAT Cybercafe at No. 4, Oriyomi Street, Ikeja where a fake COVID-19 negative certificate was eventually procured for him.
The victim was however stopped from flying to London, United Kingdom after it was discovered that he used a fake COVID-19 certificate.
The alarm he raised led to the arrest of four suspects and a guarantor to one of the two suspects at large.
Though the suspects claimed it was their first time of engaging in the criminal activity, Umar said investigation revealed the suspects had been in the crime for several months.
The suspects would be paraded in the court of competent jurisdiction on today, Friday March 5.
