Dare Babalola
The Nigeria Police Force – National Cybercrime Centre (NPF–NCCC) has made a significant breakthrough in tackling cyber-enabled fraud, uncovering a sophisticated syndicate involved in the illegal diversion of a telecommunications company’s airtime and data resources, resulting in an estimated financial loss of over ₦7.7 billion.
According to a statement by CSP Benjamin Hundeyin, Force Public Relations Officer on Wednesday, the breakthrough followed a petition by a Nigerian telecommunications company, which reported suspicious and unauthorised activities within its billing and payments infrastructure.
Investigations revealed that internal staff login credentials had been compromised, granting threat actors unlawful access to core systems.
Coordinated enforcement operations were executed in October 2025 in Kano and Katsina States, with a follow-up arrest in the Federal Capital Territory, leading to the arrest of six suspects, Ahmad Bala, Karibu Mohammed Shehu, Umar Habib, Obinna Ananaba, Ibrahim Shehu, and Masa’ud Sa’ad.
The police recovered substantial assets, 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 – all proceeds of the crime.
Substantial sums of money traced to the suspects’ accounts were also recovered.
“The suspects would be charged to court on
the completion of the investigation,” the statement read.
The Inspector-General of Police, IGP Kayode Adeolu Egbetokun, Ph.D., NPM, commended the officers involved in the investigation for their professionalism, reiterating the Nigeria Police Force’s resolve to safeguard Nigeria’s digital and financial ecosystems, dismantle cyber-criminal networks, and ensure that offenders are held accountable regardless of position or affiliation.
