The Nigeria Police Force – National Cybercrime Centre (NPF–NCCC) has uncovered and dismantled a cyber-enabled fraud syndicate responsible for the illegal diversion of airtime and data resources belonging to a telecommunications company, resulting in an estimated loss of over ₦7.7 billion.
The discovery followed a petition by the telecom firm, which reported suspicious and unauthorised activities within its billing and payment systems. Investigations revealed that login credentials of internal staff were compromised, allowing the syndicate unlawful access to the company’s core infrastructure.
After weeks of investigation, coordinated enforcement operations were carried out in October 2025 in Kano and Katsina States, with a follow-up arrest in the Federal Capital Territory (FCT).
The operation led to the arrest of six suspects: Ahmad Bala, Karibu Mohammed Shehu, Umar Habib, Obinna Ananaba, Ibrahim Shehu and Masa’ud Sa’ad.
Police recovered assets believed to be proceeds of the crime, including two residential houses in Kano, two mini-plazas, GSM and laptop retail outlets containing over 400 laptops, 1,000 mobile phones and a Toyota RAV4 vehicle.
Substantial sums of money traced to the suspects’ accounts were also recovered.
The suspects are expected to be charged to court upon completion of the investigation.
The Inspector-General of Police, IGP Kayode Adeolu Egbetokun, commended the officers involved for their professionalism and reiterated the force’s commitment to safeguarding Nigeria’s digital and financial ecosystems and holding cyber criminals accountable.
CSP Benjamin Hundeyin is the
Force Public Relations Officer
Force Headquarters, Abuja.
