Faking Legal Practice, My Surviving Strategy, Fake Lawyer Confesses

The fake lawyer, Lawrence Oyedunu

Michael-Azeez Ogunsiji

ABEOKUTA - A 52year-old man, Lawrence Oyedunu was on Thursday paraded by the Ogun State Police Command for alleged impersonation and obtaining money under false pretence. 

Speaking to THE ENCOUNTER NEWS in an interview, Oyedunu admitted in committing the crime but denied parading himself as a professional lawyer. 

He said that he engaged in the illegal law practices as a means of survival since he was unemployed after graduating from the University. 

The accused explained that, he graduated as a law student from National Open University (NOUN) in 2015, but was yet to proceed to the law school following the ban on NOUN law students.

He maintained that, as a law graduate, he never paraded himself as a lawyer, but only engaged in para-legal jobs as a means of livelihood since 2015 he graduated from the University.

"I never paraded myself as a legal practitioner neither a lawyer, I always engaged in para-legal jobs, that is doing legal documents for people who want to do agreement. I have never been to court before. I only bought the gown and wig should in case the Nigeria Bar Association allow the NOUN students to go to law school.

"I don't charge much. At times I charged N5000, N10,000 just to sustain myself. Like I said, it was part of the para-legal jobs, in fact, you don't need to be a law student before you can engage in para-legal."

Parading the suspect alongside 47 others at the Police headquarters in Abeokuta, the Ogun State Commissioner of Police, CP Kenneth Ebrimson said the fake lawyer was arrested after duping an unsuspecting client of N400,000 naira.

The police boss said the suspect was arrested after the client petitioned the police over disappearance and non- appearance of the lawyer at court sittings after the judge questioned the competence of the suspect in court.

Items recovered from the suspect, he said included full regalia of lawyer, fake court affidavits and forged documents at the suspect home.

Similarly, the State Police Command also arrested the quartet of Emeka Ibeh Anyawu, James Chibubueze Okocha, Moses Micheal and Oyekunle Adeoye for parading themselves as immigration officers. 

The Police Commissioner revealed that the four fake immigration officers were arrested when who one them impersonated the State Comptroller of Immigration at a Chinese company in Sagamu after trying to dupe the expatriates.

He said, luck ran out of them when the mobile policemen attached to the expatriates quickly intervened and discovered that the four men were not from Nigeria Immigration Service.

He said the police recovered fake identification cards of Comptroller and Assistant Comptroller and Immigration uniform.