Olayinka Longe’s desire to avoid getting cut off from the national grid due to his obsolete electricity meter has been stalled by Mufutau Olohunkemi Bello, a contractor he paid N396,000 in April to procure and install a new one for him.
Longe’s old meter will expire by November and stop supplying electricity to his house in the Lekki area of Lagos State.
To prevent this from happening, he applied for a new meter from the Eko Electricity Distribution Company (EKEDC), a power distributor servicing his neighbourhood.

His application did not get more than an email acknowledgement from the electricity supplier. Worried by no further response from EKEDC as the meter’s expiry day approached, Longe spoke with a neighbour. His neighbour had had a similar issue in the past and he was advised to consult with Bello, who had successfully replaced a meter.
It was based on that past experience that the neighbour’s recommendation of Bello to Longe stemmed from. However, it has been from one excuse to the other since Longe paid the meter contractor N396,000.
“In seeking to ensure that I get a meter before the expiry date of my current meter, I reached out to a neighbour of mine in April in the estate where I live,” Longe told FIJ.
“I thought he might be able to help as he has had some dealings with EKEDC in the past. My neighbour then introduced me to Muftau Olohunkemi Bello. He said that Bello was introduced to him by some officials at the EKEDC office in Lekki to assist him install a replacement meter in his home after a fire incident.

“My neighbour added that Bello performed the replacement without any problem.
“My neighbour also believed that Bello was an employee of EKEDC. Because of this, I then engaged Bello on April 11, 2024, without any hesitation. When Bello responded to my initial message, he used the name Engineer Murphy. I told him what I wanted and he confirmed that he had worked for my neighbour.”
Along the way, Bello’s attitude was becoming suspicious and signs of breach of contract were becoming visible. Longe said this made him do a personal investigation and discovered that the contractor was not an employee of the EKEDC.
“After confirming that EKEDC only acknowledged my request for a meter, Mr Bello stated on a call that he would get me the meter. He asked me to pay an application fee of N50,000 and N230,000 for the meter. I made the full payment with two transfers to an Opay account account he gave me,” he told FIJ.
Following the initial payment, Bello carried out an inspection at Longe’s house and requested another N146,000 to procure installation wires and other necessary electrical materials.
FIJ’s source then sent N86,000 on April 18 and another N30,000 on April 22, bringing the part-payment to N116,000 with a promise to pay the remaining N30,000 of the requested N146,000 when the job was done.
The contractor promised multiple times in April that the meter would be “ready in two weeks”, according to a WhatsApp chat log obtained by FIJ.
He last promised to install the meter on July 29.

The contractor later sent an update, saying that the meter was ready. He accompanied his message with an image of metres to provide legitimacy to his claim.
However, Bello has neither delivered the meter nor refunded the payment he received. He has also failed to offer any explanation to Longe on why he could not fulfil his contractual obligation.
To compound Longe’s worry, Bello went mute. The contractor’s two known phone numbers became unreachable. Longe told FIJ that Bello had blacklisted his phone numbers and blocked him on WhatsApp. Attempts to contact Bello by the neighbour who recommended him had also not been positive.
“At some point, he stopped responding to my messages and calls. But he recently confirmed my fears that he has scammed me when he blocked my lines to prevent me from calling him. I had to use another line. Soon enough, he blocked that line too,” Longe explained.
Efforts to get Bello’s comment on this story were unsuccessful. On Thursday, FIJ dialled Bello’s two known phone numbers which end with 5051 and 7549, but they were unreachable. A text message was also sent to the same lines on the same day.
Furthermore, the same message sent via SMS was forwarded to one of his phone numbers on WhatsApp. But the chat only received a single delivery mark, suggesting that Bello had not read it. Each day since Thursday, FIJ dialled Bello’s phone numbers without any success.
In the course of their WhatsApp interactions, Bello had claimed that he was a representative of Gosslink Engineering Ltd., a meter vendor.
Based on that claim, FIJ contacted the meter vendor on Friday and Monday. The company disclaimed any such affiliation, saying it had no information or relationship with Bello.
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A man who identified as Joseph spoke for Gosslink. FIJ explained how Bello identified with the company.
In response, Joseph said, “Did he present anything evidence to show he had a relationship with us? If no, anybody can just make any claim that they are affiliated with us or even you. We don’t know anyone like that.”
Joseph went ahead to explain the meter procurement process. “If you need a prepaid meter, you have to apply through your electricity supplier who will then send your application code to us or any other vendor. If your application is sent to us, we will then contact you for an inspection and send you a payment advice. The payment advice tells you to pay an appropriate fee, depending on your peculiarity. Once you make the payment, we will bring your meter and install it,” he said.
A SERIAL SCAMMER?
Bello appears to be known for dubious dealings, presenting himself as an employee of the EKEDC to dupe electricity consumers of their money.
The Nation reported on September 23 that Bello had been arrested and arraigned before a court. His arraignment followed a complaint made by some people that he had defrauded them of N760,375 meant for the purchase of seven prepaid metres.
The newspaper reported: “Eko Electricity Distribution Company (EKEDC) has urged its customers to avoid paying individuals and unauthorised agents for its services. The company further stated that all payments should be made directly through the official and approved channels made available in the public domain.
“The call came on the back of the arraignment of one Mufutau Olohunkemi Bello who under the guise of being an EKEDC staff defrauded a customer within the Ojo Business District to the tune of N760,375 for the purchase of seven prepaid meters. He was apprehended by the men of the Onireke Police Station and arraigned on a three-count charge of impersonation, obtaining money under false pretence and stealing all under the Criminal Laws of Lagos State.”
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