The police in Osun have nabbed two brothers, Saliu Yisa and Saliu Qudri, for conspiracy, theft, and obtaining money and goods under false pretenses.
The Osun State Police Command Spokesperson, Yemisi Opalola, revealed during a press briefing on Friday in Osogbo that the duo, aged 30 and 19 years, defrauded an unsuspecting businessman who wanted to invest in cattle rearing.
Opalola said the elder brother, Yisa, had used proceeds fraudulently obtained from his crimes to build a house in the Kelebe area of Osogbo.
She said, “On July 19, 2024, the complainant reported to the CP’s surveillance team that he knew one Saliu Yisa, a Fulani by tribe, through one Olarewaju Muhammed in the year 2020 and engaged him in a business of cattle rearing. He gave him 27 cows to rear initially. In 2022, he handed over an additional 10 cows to Saliu Yisa, totaling thirty-seven (37) cows.
“He visited him bi-weekly. The complainant stated further that around March 2024, he handed over another five (5) cows to Saliu Yisa and was later persuaded to buy more cows for the Ileya festival in 2024. He bought 13 cows at the rate of N2,500,000. After purchasing the cows, he was shown the cows through a video call and personally went to see the cows before payment.
“Both of them inserted symbols on the ears of the cows, not knowing that he later removed all the symbols from the cows and returned them to his accomplice (his brother), whom he had borrowed the cows from to deceive and obtain money from the manager.
“The total number of cows handed over to Saliu Yisa was fifty-four (54). A month ago, the farm manager noticed strange behavior from Saliu Yisa and decided to meet with him at Oni-Oba/Kelebe Area, Osogbo, where he was living. He discovered that all the cows had been taken to an unknown destination and that Saliu Yisa was nowhere to be found.
“Saliu Yisa’s wives claimed that they didn’t know the whereabouts of their husband and that he hadn’t called, which was discovered to be part of the plan. Saliu Yisa blocked the complainant’s number.
“One day, Saliu Yisa used his younger brother, Saliu Qudri’s line, to call the complainant and claimed that all 54 cows had died without any evidence to prove it. Police swung into action, arrested the suspect and his accomplice from their hideout, and he confessed to having used the money collected from the complainant to build a house in Kelebe area, Osogbo. Sixteen (16) cows were recovered from his brother, where he was rearing them for his own personal gain.”
Sixteen cows were also recovered from the suspects as evidence of their shady business.
Opalola added that the suspects will be charged to court after the completion of the investigation.
