By Modupe Gbadeyanka
A key suspect in the Dangote Cement price slash scam, Mr Benjamin Ezeukwe, has been arraigned in court by the police in Lagos State.
A statement issued by the spokesman of the Lagos Command of the Nigeria Police Force (NPF), Mr Benjamin Hundeyin, disclosed that the accused person was taken to court for prosecution after he was arrested in Rivers State.
The Police Public Relations Officer, who is a Superintendent of Police (SP), disclosed that Mr Ezeukwe was picked up by police operatives on Thursday, October 19, 2023, in the Rumuolumeni area of Obio/Akpor local government area of Rivers State.
According to him, the arrest followed “weeks of intensive investigation by officers of Area A Command of the state command.”
The suspect was said to have masterminded the “elaborate cement-price-slash scam,” allegedly “fleecing hundreds of innocent Nigerians” of their hard-earned money.
Recall that in October 2023, BUA Cement announced a slash in its ex-factory price in an effort to make consumers purchase cement at a cheaper rate.
A few days after, there were reports that Dangote Cement had been forced to bring down the price of its product, in what some observers said was going to be a cement war.
However, the management of Dangote Cement said it never took that action, warning its customers not to fall for the fraud, promising to involve the police to unravel those behind it.
In the statement issued by Mr Hundeyin on Sunday, it was disclosed that the suspect, when he was arrested, was found with “one Tecno phone, one iPhone, three SIM cards, including that of 08039691980, which he used for the scam and a Toyota Avalon, which investigation revealed to be a proceed of his crime.”
He noted that, “Investigation has so far revealed that the suspect had perpetrated several other similar scams.”
Adedapo Adesanya