Tajudeen Idris 47, was on Friday, arrested by men of the Ogun State Police Command while presenting a case before a Magistrate Court in Ogun State.
The suspect was arrested when he appeared before Chief Magistrate I. A Arogundade, in Ifo,in a civil trial between one Ifeanyi Chukwu and Ayo Itori.
The Command’s Spokesperson, Abimbola Oyeyemi, in a statement said ,t”he Chief Magistrate became suspicious of the suspect as a result of his conduct and presentation before him.”
,He said the suspect had informed “the Court that he was called to the bar in the year 2009 . However, further investigation revealed that his name was not in the list of those that were called to the bar that year.”
The Divisional Police Officer ( DPO) ,was informed and the suspect was immediately arrested.
The Police Spokesman said the State Police Commissioner, Edward Ajogun has expressed concern about the increase in the number of people impersonating lawyers and urged the State Chapter of the Nigerian Bar Association (NBA) , to do what it can to checkmate their fraudulent activities .
The Commissioner of Police was said to have recalled that not less than five cases of fake lawyers have been reported since his assumption of office less than 2 months ago.
According to him,”on August 12,2020 , a 56 – year old man, Sylvester Ogbagu was arrested at Shagamu while parading himself as a lawyer. Another fake lawyer, Adedeji Ebenezer was arrested in the Court premises on August 5, while appearing as a counsel to a client.He was tried and sentenced to 3 years in prison.”
Elijah Ayodeji Ojo,was also arrested in Ajuwon police station on June 28, while parading as a lawyer to a so- called client who was having a criminal matter with the police., Similarly, ,one Lawrence Oyedimu was arrested in Sango Ota while presenting himself as a counsel to a suspect.
