The Police in Abuja have arrested three members of a syndicate, known as Universal Response and Rescue Support Foundation, allegedly recruiting for the United Nations (UN) in Nigeria.
Parading the suspects yesterday at the Force Headquarters, Abuja, the Force Public Relations Officer, Frank Mba, explained that the organisation had swindled and extorted over N7 million from 100 Nigerian youths.
The suspects – Michael Adedayo Abraham, 45, who described himself as the ‘Rescue General,’ Lemmy Odogwu, 35, ‘FCT Commandant,’ and Innocent Prosper, 35 – were arrested with a Toyota Sequoia SUV, 181 copies of unfilled recruitment forms with UN logo, a booklet containing lists of recruitment and phone numbers of intending members.
Mba said that the organisation had a training camp in Iba in Lagos, with branches in Ekiti, Cross River and Imo states and Abuja, adding that the suspects would be prosecuted on charges of impersonation, cheating and forgery.
He said: “Acting on the complaint from the UN Chief Security Officer (CSO) in Nigeria, the IGP directed the INTERPOL unit of the Force to commence an investigation into the activities of the Universal Response and Rescue Support Foundation and three suspects were arrested.”
One of the suspects, Prosper, said he was motivated to join the organisation when he saw the UN logo on its document, saying he purchased the registration form in Abuja and went to Lagos for combat training, where he was issued a paramilitary uniform, with a blue beret with the UN logo.
Another suspect, Abraham, who founded the organisation, explained that he did not intended to use it for criminal activities or embarrass the UN, claiming that he only wanted to support the lofty goals of the international agency to make society a better place.
He said: “The UN gave me books and asked me to register the organisation with the government, but the lawyer I asked to register the Foundation delayed.
“Putting the UN logo on our website and documents was not for criminal intent. I am sorry for embarrassing the UN, it was not meant to be so.”
