Published 22nd Apr, 2022

By Joseph Adeiye

Saheed Olumegbon, a bolt driver who was accidentally paid N130,000 instead of N1,300 by Oluwaseun Oti, an entrepreneur, has fled from Lagos, where he operated as a driver, to Ifo, Ogun State, FIJ can report.

On Thursday, Oti had tweeted and also told FIJ that he mistakenly transferred N130,000 to Olumegbon instead of N1,300, being the payment for a ride from Olubunmi Owa Street, Lekki Phase 1, to Ikate-Maiyagun Road, Lekki Penninsula, on Thursday.

I mistakenly sent 130,000 instead of 1,300 to a bolt driver and he refused to pick up his and now switched off.pls guys,help me repost this till the @Boltapp_ng help refund my money.D @Boltapp_ng support are not responding also ..@Gistloversblog1 @instablog9ja
It happens 2day pic.twitter.com/RIoWbeSizL

— hensennygold (@hensennygold1) April 21, 2022

The businessman said he immediately made several phone calls to Olumegbon the moment he realised his error, but the driver would not respond.

“I got the ride because I needed to take a short trip from Olubunmi Owa Street to Ikate Maiyegun Road, all in Lekki Phase I. The trip, which lasted about five minutes was supposed to cost N1,300,” Oti said.

“Unfortunately, while making a cash transfer to him to pay for my fare, I erroneously added more zeroes than required to the amount I was supposed to pay.

“So, instead of transferring N1,300 to the driver, I ended up transferring N130,000 to him. It was after almost an hour, when I wanted to make another transfer, that I realised the error I had committed. I then called the driver immediately but he refused to pick my calls. I called him for hours, but he would not pick.”

After contacting Bolt, Oti also visited the nearest GTBank branch, where Olajide operates an account, to make enquiries.

It was at the bank that Oti confirmed that Olajide had emptied his account upon receiving the N130,000.

“I was told he had emptied his account and had moved the money into another bank account he also operates,” he said.

After speaking with Oti, FIJ contacted its private security tracker to ascertain if Oti’s claims were true. High-wire technology deployed into the case revealed that Olumegbon indeed drove Oti from the said location to the other. However, he has since fled to Ifo, Ogun State.

FIJ is aware of Olumegbon’s exact location in Ifo but will not state this publicly, for security reasons, but the organisation has passed on the details to the victim and is willing to do the same to the Police.

“If Olumegbon leaves Ifo for another location, we will also know,” said our security consultant. “The best he can do is to refund the money immediately, as he has no hiding place.”

This report was produced with support from the Wole Soyinka Centre for Investigative Journalism (WSCIJ) under the Collaborative Media Engagement for Development Inclusivity and Accountability project (CMEDIA) funded by the MacArthur Foundation.

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