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The Police yesterday paraded three members of a criminal gang operating in Abuja, who attempted to defraud a presidential aide, minister and some top government functionaries.
Force Public Relations Officer (FPRO) Don Awunah, who presented the suspects, said they were trailed and arrested by operatives attached to the Inspector General of Police’s Intelligence Response Team, (IRT) on Monday August 1, 2016, after one of their targets, incidentally President Muhammadu Buhari’s senior aide, reported their threats to the police.
Awunah, named the suspects as Abdulrahman Shuaibu, Isiaku Zambuk, 47, and Hassan Haruna, 35, saying the syndicate specialises in sending text messages and calling highly placed individuals like ministers, senators and captains of industry on phone demanding huge sums of money.
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The three suspects led by Shuaibu, said he relocated to Abuja from his hometown in Hong, Taraba State, about a year ago after President Muhammadu Buhari won elections, hoping that he would become a rich man.
He met the gang members at the Federal Secretariat, Abuja and appealed to them for assistance, but they instead asked him to join their gang.The secondary school certificate holder, who appeared to be more educated than the rest said, “Since I joined them, they have been giving me GSM numbers of ministers, permanent secretaries, and directors; Sometimes, we visit ministries and demand to see the minister, but if he is too busy to attend to us, he may give us he complimentary cards and through it, we get his number.”
They were arrested with copies of letters of threat to life, addressed to highly placed Nigerians; copies of letters of fraud addressed to other individuals and corporate bodies soliciting monetary assistance for non-existing projects.
