A 23-year-old man, Sylvester Onakpobe, has been arrested by the police in Lagos for allegedly impersonating a Nollywood actor, Michael Ifeanyi, on social media and defrauding his fans.
The suspect was nabbed by operatives attached to the Maroko Division in Victoria Island following a petition filed by the action on August 17.
He was alleged to have used the actor’s name and photograph on Facebook to collect huge sum of money from unsuspecting persons under the guise of organising a film festival.
The suspect was trailed and arrested while on the verge of collecting N3.5million from one of the actor’s fans who resides in France.
Confirming the arrest, the command’s spokesperson, Dolapo Badmos, a Superintendent of Police (SP), said the suspect confessed to the crime, adding that he was part of a syndicate.
“Effort is on to arrest other members of the syndicate. The Commissioner of Police, Fatai Owoseni, has directed the Divisional Police Officer (DPO, Abdulmajid Isah, to charge the suspect to court.
“He also warned all internet fraudsters that the command will do everything possible to stop their nefarious activities and ensure diligent prosecutions of the arrested ones,” she said.