Suspected Conman- "I Dress Like a Woman to Deceive Men"

Policemen attached to Lagos State Criminal Investigation Department (CID) Panti, Yaba are investigating  a 20-year-old man  identified as Hussein Diyaya Alam from Kano State who allegedly dressed like a woman to defraud men.

According to the state commissioner of Police, Fatia Owoseni, Alam had been going around with his fraudulent act but ran out of luck when one of his alleged victims, identified as Hasimu Soli, who he was said to have obtained N15,000 from under false pretence that he was going to marry him.

Subsequently, he escaped only for Soli to sight him at the CMS area of Lagos on November 15 and a
quarrel ensued, leading to the police from the Lion Building Police station to arrest the two men.

CP Owoseni narrated:

 “On Sunday, November 15, at CMS , Lagos, a patrol team attached to the Lion Building Police Division arrested the suspect, who went about bearing a woman’s name, Kadijat, and dressed in Muslim hijab. The  suspect met one Hassimu of No. 25, Iyana Street, Ajegunle and agreed to a relationship and had falsely obtained N15,000 from Mr. Soli under the guise of marrying him. Mr. Soli had wanted to take Kadijat (suspect) home, but he  refused, giving various excuses.

“While they were dragging themselves at the CMS Bus Stop, policemen from Lion Building, who were on patrol, saw them and intervened. 

They were taken to the police station for causing the breach of public peace. 

At the station, Hassimu alleged that the suspect had collected about N15, 000 from him with a promise to marry him. Soli was shocked to hear the confession of the suspect that he is a man disguised in women’s outfit to defraud men”

According to police sources, the suspect confessed that he had been into the business for about two years and that he had defrauded several men in Lagos of unspecified amount of money.

The suspect, who claimed he only speaks Hausa fluently, said:

“My real name is Hussieni Biyaya from Teke town in Kano State.I relocated to Lagos early this year and I live  at Bode Thomas Street, Onipanu. I dress like a woman because I look like a woman but my major aim is to deceive men to give me money. I decided to relocate to Lagos so that people who know me in Kano State will not identify me. I usually stand at Ojulegba and CMS areas to look for men”.

The victim, Soli, also told his story:

“I met the suspect at Obalande sometime this year. He was standing at Obalende begging for arms. He was dressed in a hijab and painted his face. I noticed him there always begging because I sell sachet water in the area. One day, I walked up to him and asked him to  date me. 

I thought he is a woman and I told him that he was too beautiful to beg. I gave him N500 that day and we exchanged phone  numbers. It got to a point that we became good friends but each time I told him to take me to his house, he will decline. I told him I wanted to marry him, so I took him to see my family at Apapa. After that incident, I did not see him again and he stopped picking my phone calls.

Luckily for me, I saw him one day begging and I traced him to his area at Onipanu but I could not locate the exact house he entered. I asked someone passing and he told me that my girlfriend was a man. Since then I have been trying to catch him  so that he can return the N15,000 he collected from me .God heard my prayer and I ran into him at CMS and the police arrested us”.