The Nigerian Army has advised those impersonating the Chief of Army Staff, Lt.-Gen. Olufemi Oluyede, on social media to cease or face the consequences.
The warning was issued by Maj.-Gen. Onyema Nwachukwu, Director of Army Public Relations, on Sunday in Abuja.
Nwachukwu stated that the army had received numerous complaints about an increased number of impostors purporting to be COAS on various social media sites.
He said the imposters had continued to cause mischief by adopting the COAS’s official portrait as their profile picture on several social media platforms.
According to him, this is not the first time that impostors have sought to mimic the COAS on social media platforms in order to deceive unwary members of the public.
“A new trend observed, however, is the fixing of online/virtual meetings on Zoom, WhatsApp, Facebook, and other online engagements with a demand that participants share specific numbers that appear on their screens during such meetings, with which the impostors then engage individually with the participants and subsequently defraud them.
“So far, the Nigerian Army has identified the following numbers as being frequently used by the fraudsters.
“These are: 09033949238, 09075323836, 09074272745, 08169257155, 08064561495, 08054138812, 09161521558, 09026515718, 09020898622, 08131333263, 09077188584, 08084529752, 08147409236, 09136497898, 09024627712, 07010119398, 09138997224, 09061549129, 08163593764, 07035272009, 09018150412, 08093524443, and 08088120581.
“While the Nigerian Army, like other sister services of the Armed Forces, has peculiar ways of communication known to all officers and soldiers, members of the general public must be wary of the danger posed by these impostors.
“You are therefore urged to refrain from engaging in any online meeting organised on social media platforms, especially using the official portrait of the COAS as the display picture.
“Members of the general public are enjoined to report such mobile phone numbers used to fix such online or virtual meetings through the Nigerian Army toll-free call centre number 193 for appropriate follow-up actions,” he said.
Nwachukwu also asked both troops and non-personnel to exercise caution when using social media, virtual meetings, or phone calls as formal ways of communicating with the army hierarchy.
He also stated that established processes and procedures should be followed while remaining watchful against scammers.
![Rev. Fr. Anthony Odiong, a US-based Nigerian Louisiana Catholic priest, was arrested in Florida on Tuesday for possessing child pornography, according to law authorities. The suspect is reportedly accused of many other cases of sexual assault. The Waco, Texas, Police Department announced in a Facebook post on Tuesday that officers detained Father Anthony Odiong in Ave Maria, Florida, with assistance from the United States Marshals Service. Waco police announced in March that they had received "credible information" about a sexual assault allegedly committed by Odiong in Texas in 2012. “During the subsequent investigation, a case of possession of child pornography was uncovered,” the police said. The priest was apprehended in Florida by the Caribbean Regional Fugitive Task Force. The Waco Police Department said that he will be extradited to Texas. Odiong had previously served in the Archdiocese of New Orleans before being removed as priest in December of last year due to controversy over homilies in which he claimed, among other things, that the Catholic Church was being taken over by "the gays." At the time, the priest was also accused of abusive behaviour; a Louisiana lady claimed in U.S. bankruptcy court that Odiong had committed both financial and sexual abuse against her. Prior to joining the New Orleans Archdiocese, Odiong served in at least two Texas parishes. On Tuesday, Waco police stated that during their sexual assault investigation, "the presence of other survivors was revealed." “Multiple women have come forward to tell similar experiences as the sexual assault survivor who reported the initial allegation,” the police department said. “Survivors’ experiences ranged from sexual assault and indecent assault, more commonly recognised as groping, and financial abuse, with some survivors experiencing every element of Anthony Odiong’s manipulation.” The police said they “believe there may be more survivors, and we wish to speak with anyone who [has] had similar encounters” with the priest. The Archdiocese of New Orleans issued a brief news release on Tuesday noting Odiong's arrest in Florida. The archdiocese “encourages anyone with any information to contact law enforcement,” the release said.](https://chronicle.ng/wp-content/uploads/2024/08/ezgif-6-4730550ede-450x300.jpg "Odiong: US-based Nigerian Catholic priest convicted over sexual assault")