The Nigeria Police Force’s National Cybercrime Centre has dismantled a well-organized cybercrime syndicate that was running a recruitment and mentoring centre in the Federal Capital Territory, Abuja. The operation resulted in the arrest of at least six suspects.
According to the Force Public Relations Officer, ACP Olumuyiwa Adejobi, in a statement on Wednesday, the operation was launched in response to a series of intelligence reports pointing to the deep involvement of the syndicate in various cybercrimes.
These included activities like business email compromise, romance scams, and high-yield investment program fraud in the territory.
Upon receiving the intelligence, a team of cybercrime forensic experts and investigators was assigned to the case, which eventually led to the arrest of the suspects at their hideout in the Dantata Estate area of the capital city.
Adejobi revealed that the security operatives seized several digital devices and materials used in carrying out their criminal activities.
He stated, “The suspects, namely Bernard Joseph, 27, Emmanuel Joseph, 22, Obasi Ikechukwu, 19, Anijiofor Tobechuckwu, 26, Andrew Moses, 19, and Israel Ezekiel, 19, summarily confessed to their various degrees of involvement in cybercrimes, including identity theft, hacking, trading of hacked Facebook accounts, romance scams, and computer-related forgery.”
An ongoing investigation is actively pursuing the remaining members of the criminal network who managed to escape during the operation.
The arrested suspects will be charged in court once the investigation is completed.
