Police swoop on Abuja kidnappers, SIM card peddlers, arrest 12

Operatives of the Force Intelligence Department – Intelligence Response Team (FID-IRT) have dismantled criminal operations of ‘one chance’ armed robbery syndicates in Abuja with the arrest of 12 most wanted suspects.

The suspects, who were paraded at the weekend, confessed to have maimed and robbed unsuspecting passengers and innocent commuters in the city.

The suspects are Lawrence Oba John, Hamza Ibrahim, Collins Nnaemeka Nwabueze, Kosisochukwu Micheal Ofo and Christian Enyi.

Others are: Ikenna Vincent, Monday Ben Ochogwu, Amodu Bernard, Ernest Ezirike and Emmanuel Madaki. The rest are Joseph Ogah and Ifeanyi Ugwu.

Speaking on the incident, Force spokesperson, ACP Muyiwa Adejobi said: “One chance involves criminals using commercial vehicles to trap unsuspecting passengers, robbing them of their belongings with the aid of dangerous weapons.

“Based on credible intelligence, our IRT operatives conducted a sustained crackdown, leading to the arrest of 12 suspects involved in various roles within these criminal syndicates along the Dei-Dei-Zuba expressway.

“The suspects operated using a black Mazda 323 with registration number AKL-914-BK and a custom-colored Mazda 323 with registration number YAB-700-KB.

“Today, we present four interconnected syndicates of ‘one chance’ armed robbers, whose names were aforementioned.

“Recoveries made from these suspects include operational vehicles, phones, and laptops stolen from victims. Each suspect will address their specific role in this criminal network.”

Also, intelligence operatives have arrested pre-registered Subscriber Identity Module (SIM) card peddlers.

Recovered from them are three SIM card registration devices, two smartphones and 55 pre-registered SIM cards.

According to Adejobi, following diligent covert operations, the NPF-NCCC, in “Operation Dark SIM” apprehended two suspects; Joshua Peter Oluebube, 23 years and Kaila Merry Micah, 34, who are kingpins and masterminds of the fraudulent syndicate.

“The syndicate of street hawkers engage in unwholesome contravention of the revised National Identity Policy for SIM card registration in Nigeria which requires that all SIM cards must be linked to the individual National Identity Number (NIN) issued by the National Identity Management Commission (NIMC).

“The sale of pre-registered SIM cards poses serious security threats to our national security by fostering a wide range of cybercrime activities such as fraud, terrorism, and computer-related crimes.

“The use of proxies to pre-register SIM cards and bypassing the Nigerian Communications Commission (NCC) mandatory registration process by criminals endangers the safety and privacy of the national cyber-ecosystem.
“The following exhibits were recovered: three SIM card registration devices, two smartphones and 55 pre-registered SIM cards.
“The suspects have provided confessional statements of their involvement in the illicit sale and distribution of pre-registered SIM cards across the country.

“They are assisting police investigations with valuable information that could lead to the apprehension of other members of their syndicate. Upon conclusion of the investigation, the suspects will be arraigned in court,” he said.