The Katsina State Police Command announced the arrest of four individuals on Thursday, suspected of engaging in illegal SIM card swapping and bank fraud. The arrests followed a targeted operation based on reliable intelligence.
Abubakar Aliyu, the police spokesperson, revealed that the suspects used sophisticated techniques to access victims’ bank accounts after swapping their SIM cards without consent. These fraudsters allegedly specialized in deceiving unsuspecting individuals, stealing their identities, and withdrawing money from their accounts.
“The suspects used fraudulent tactics to illegally withdraw funds from their victims’ bank accounts,” Aliyu explained during a press briefing.
The police seized 32 SIM cards from the suspects during the operation. The individuals arrested have been identified as:
Muhammad Murtala, alias Bomboy, age 20, from Rahamawa quarters
Muhammad Umar, alias Dogon Baba, age 33, from Sabuwar Unguwa quarters
Muhammad Quraish, age 29, from Sabuwar Kasuwa quarters
Emmanuel Ogunwoye, alias OG, age 25, a bank staff member
During interrogation, the suspects reportedly confessed to their involvement in the crimes.
“The command, acting on credible intelligence, launched an operation to track down the syndicate. After a thorough investigation, four suspects were arrested and confessed to the commission of the offense,” Aliyu added.
Arrests in 12-Year-Old’s Abduction and Murder
In a separate case, the Katsina police also arrested two individuals for the abduction and murder of 12-year-old Salihu Sadi in Kaita Local Government Area. The suspects, Muttaka Garba and Yusuf Usman, kidnapped the boy while he was running an errand for his mother. They demanded a ransom of ₦25 million from the boy’s family but tragically killed him during the negotiation process.
“These suspects callously took the life of an innocent child after making financial demands from his family,” Aliyu said.