No fewer than 16 members of an illegal job recruitment group, operating under the name “Niger Delta Youths, Women and Security Movement for Buhari” have been arrested by the Akwa Ibom State Police Command.

The group which promised unsuspecting members of the public jobs in various sectors of the economy made them believe that they were acting on behalf of President Muhammadu Buhari.

A statement issued by the spokesperson of the Command, Chukwu Ikechukwu disclosed that the group charged N6,000 for membership, and N15,000 for what it called “surveillance.”

Ikechukwu disclosed that the suspects were arrested by detectives of the Command in a storey-building along Atiku Abubakar Way in Uyo, the state capital.

The spokesperson said, “On the 30th day of June, 2017, actionable intelligence was received by a team of detectives from the State Criminal Investigation and Intelligence Department of the Command that a group of people were selling forms to unsuspecting members of the public to be recruited as law enforcement officers, using the guise of employment.

The following items were recovered from them: physical cash of N199,800.00, and two sets of forms for empowerment and surveillance.

“The group operates under the name, “Niger Delta Youths, Women and Security Movement for Buhari.

“The group tricked applicants into believing that those applying for security jobs will be trained by the Nigerian Army and on completion, will be posted to the Nigerian Navy, Police Criminal Investigation and Intelligence Department, Department of State Services, for the purpose of pipeline surveillance and protection.

The Command’s spokesperson noted that one Felix Obonka from Delta State an alleged mastermind of the group started a fake recruitment exercise in 2015 with membership drawn from all the local government areas of Akwa Ibom State.

Ikechukwu noted that the syndicate had neither trained nor given shops to any persons since 2015.

“He and his cohorts gulled members into believing that they would become trained artisans and proud owners of shops at the end of the programme.

“It is also instructive to note that the group is an unregistered organisation which perpetrates all sorts of criminality and consequently not one to be taken seriously.

“They are simply using the name of the President and Commander in-Chief, Mohammud Buhari, to scam and defraud innocent members of the public, as none of the members belong to any registered political party.

“The Akwa Ibom State Police Command believes in the sanctity of the law, respect for its citizens in accordance with the tenets of democratic policing. Consequently, the 16 suspects will be arraigned in the court,” the statement added.

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