A contestant for the vacant stool of the Oluwoye of Iwoye town near Ilaro, Ogun State, Alhaji Fagbemi Waheed, has been arrested for allegedly forging a West African Examination Council certificate.
Police arrested Waheed following a petition received from the chambers of one R.R.A & Associate accusing the contestant of forging a WAEC certificate numbered: NGSG 809573, which he claimed to have obtained in 1988.
The petitioner further stated that Waheed forged the said certificate for the purpose of using it to contest the stool of Oluwoye of Iwoye town.
The Ogun State Police Public Relations Officer, Abimbola Oyeyemi, added in a statement on Tuesday that on the strength of the petition, the officer in-charge Anti-kidnapping section was detailed to investigate the case.
Oyeyemi, a deputy superintendent of police, said the suspect was subsequently arrested and a search warrant was executed in his house, where the forged certificate was recovered.
The PPRO added that investigation further revealed that the WEAC certificate bearing the above number actually belonged to one Riamot Omotola Adebayo.
During interrogation, the police spokesman said, the suspect confessed that he collected the certificate from the owner on the pretence that he wanted to use it to secure a job for her, but took it to a cyber cafe where he super- imposed his own name on it and printed it out as the original copy.
He said that the suspect stated further that he did so because he wanted to contest for the vacant stool of Oba of his town, Iwoye.
The PPRO added that state Commissioner of Police, Kenneth Ebrinson, had directed that the suspect be charged to court as soon as investigation was concluded.
