The Katsina State Police Command has bust a syndicate involved in cyber and financial after the gang leader reported one of the gang members who absconded with N10 million loot.
A total of five members of the syndicate were arrested following an investigation while the gang leader, Nasir Dan-Rimi, who initially reported the matter to the police, and one Surajo Sani Muhammad, are on the run.
According to the command spokesperson, DSP Abubakar Sadiq Aliyu, Dan-Rimi sent a petition on October 27, 2026, to the office of the Commissioner of Police, stating that on October 10, 2026, at about 3:45 PM, he entrusted one Ahmed Abdulhakim, 23, with N10 million to complete an ongoing transaction on his behalf.
“Upon receiving the funds into his personal bank account, the suspect absconded and converted the entire amount to his personal use, with all attempts to retrieve the money proving abortive.
“Detectives immediately launched an investigation, tracked down, and arrested the suspect. During interrogation, Ahmed confessed to the crime and revealed that the money in question was part of a criminal enterprise, admitting that both he and the complainant are fraudsters who specialize in defrauding unsuspecting victims.”
Aliyu said this prompted the police to widen the investigation, which resulted in the arrest of two other gang members – Abdulrahman Abdullahi, a.k.a. Khail), aged 24, and Mustapha Ayuba, 24.
“Investigations revealed that the suspects had lodged in the hotel for an extended period, utilizing it as their primary base of operations.
“Also arrested was Fahad Ahmad, the Assistant Manager of the hotel, for harbouring criminals. He was found to have deliberately assisted the syndicate by frequently moving them between rooms to obstruct security operatives and evade tracking.
It was further discovered that the first three suspects possessed multiple falsified identity documents to operate numerous accounts.
One of the suspects, Ahmed, has three different BVNs and NINs, and operates 13 bank accounts, while Abdulrahman Abdullahi also has three different BVNs and NINs, and is operating six bank accounts, and Mustapha Ayuba, who possessed three different BVNs and NINs, with six bank accounts.
The police said all the accounts were registered under false names to conceal the identities of the suspects.
The suspects further indicted one Saifullahi Idris and one Umar Faruq Bala, who assisted the syndicate in generating fake BVN and NIN documents.
According to the police, all the arrested suspects have confessed to their roles in the crime.
Exhibits recovered from the suspects include one Peugeot 206, a Mercedes-Benz C300, Samsung Fold, Redmi, iPhone 14 Pro, and iPhone 13, as well as N2 million.
Other exhibits included nine NIN cards, nine BVN slips, an additional NIN card, nine ATM cards, 14 SIM cards, and 12 SIM packs of various networks used in committing crimes.
“Additionally, the command has successfully secured bank freezes on accounts containing ₦19,000,000 and ₦3,000,000 respectively (totalling ₦22,000,000).
“Investigations further revealed that the original complainant, Aminu Nasir Dan-Rimi, along with one Surajo Sani Muhammad, are the ringleaders of the syndicate and are currently at large. Intensified efforts are underway to track down and arrest the fleeing suspects.
“The Commissioner of Police, Katsina State Command, CP Ali Umar Fage, while commending the operatives for their diligence and professionalism, reiterated the Command’s unrelenting commitment to combating all forms of financial and cybercrime in the state.
He warned hotel owners and managers to desist from harbouring criminals and urged members of the public to promptly report suspicious persons or transactions to the Police.
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