Filmmaker Egbegbe caught attempting to rob money changers

It was not an action packed film, though a producer was at the centre of it. Popular filmmaker Oluwaseun Olajide Olasunkanmi (aka Seun Egbegbe) was yesterday caught at the Gbagada General Hospital, in Lagos while allegedly attempting to rob two money changers of $9,000 and £3,000.

The incident happened over two months after he was arrested for alleged theft of six pieces of iPhone 7 at the Computer Village in Ikeja. The Nation gathered that Egbegbe, who changed $500 from his victims in the morning, allegedly impersonated the hospital’s Managing Director (MD), Dr. Lateef Lawal, to perpetrate the act. He was said to have invited the money changers – Alhaji Isa Adamu and Abdullahi Haruna – on the pretence that he wanted to change $20,000 cash. It was learnt that Egbegbe drove into the hospital’s premises with a friend, Ayo Oyekan, who pretended to be a patient.

When the money changers arrived at the hospital with the cash, it was gathered that Egbegbe took them to an abandoned ward where he and Oyekan allegedly attempted to dispossess them of the money.A worker in the hospital, who asked not to be named, told The Nation: “We never knew it was the popular Seun Egbegbe until after the incident.

He came into the premises with another man and told the security guards they wanted to see the MD. A few minutes after the security guards gave Seun Egbegbe and his accomplice access into the premises, the Bureau De Change operators arrived and also asked to see the MD. “Seun Egbegbe took the mallams to an abandoned ward, where his accomplice was lying on a bench and pretended to be a patient on emergency.

The trick was to give the Bureau De Change operators the impression that Egbegbe was truly a doctor. “We suddenly heard a loud scream from the direction of the abandoned wards. When we got to the scene, we saw Seun Egbegbe and his accomplice struggling with the mallams. We quickly alerted the security guards, who moved to the scene.

The mallams told us the two men wanted to dispossess them of naira and dollar cash.” After his rescue, the victims called their colleagues at the nearby Diya Street, who •Egbegbe (right) and Oyekan… yesterday mobilised to the hospital. As Egbegbe and his accomplice were being interrogated by the hospital’s security guards, the money changers arrived in large number and attempted to lynch the suspects. In the ensuing melee, the hospital’s management invited the police, which whisked the suspects away. But, the money changers tore Egbegbe’s clothes as he was being led by the police.

An eyewitness told our reporter that Egbegbe pleaded with people who gathered at the scene not to take his photograph. He was said to have covered his face as he was being taken away. Lagos Command Public Relations Officer Dolapo Badmos, a Superintendent of Police (SP), who confirmed the incident, said: “Investigation has begun into what transpired in the hospital.” Since the suspects’ arrest, she said, other money changers have been trooping in with similar complaints against them. Last November 22, Egbegbe was beaten up by traders at Computer Village for alleged theft of six brand-new iPhone 7. He was subsequently charged to court.