The Nigeria Police Force has uncovered a sophisticated telecom fraud estimated at ₦7.7 billion.
According to the Force Public Relations Officer, CSP Benjamin Hundeyin, the National Cybercrime Centre (NPF–NCCC) led the operation that dismantled the cyber-enabled fraud syndicate responsible for the illegal diversion of a telecommunications company’s airtime and data resources.
The breakthrough followed a petition by a Nigerian telecom company, which reported suspicious and unauthorized activity within its billing and payments infrastructure. Investigations revealed that internal staff login credentials had been compromised, granting the perpetrators unlawful access to core systems.
After weeks of planning, coordinated enforcement operations were executed in October 2025 in Kano and Katsina States, with a follow-up arrest in the Federal Capital Territory. Six suspects were apprehended: Ahmad Bala, Karibu Mohammed Shehu, Umar Habib, Obinna Ananaba, Ibrahim Shehu, and Masa’ud Sa’ad.
Items recovered during the arrests include:
Two residential houses in Kano
Two mini-plazas
GSM and laptop retail outlets containing over 400 laptops and 1,000 mobile devices
A Toyota RAV4 vehicle
Substantial sums of money traced to the suspects’ accounts
The Police stated that the suspects will be charged to court upon completion of the investigation.
Inspector-General of Police, Kayode Adeolu Egbetokun, commended the officers involved for their professionalism and reaffirmed the Nigeria Police Force’s commitment to safeguarding the country’s digital and financial ecosystems, dismantling cyber-criminal networks, and ensuring accountability for all offenders.
