Five members of a fraud syndicate who specialized in hacking into bank accounts of individuals and corporate bodies to steal their funds have been arrested while attempting to hack into a company’s account to steal N3.4 billion.
A spokesperson for the Nigeria Police, Olumuyiwa Adejobi who announced this in a statement on Sunday did not say when or where the suspects were arrested.
But he said the suspected hackers were nabbed by the Force Intelligence Bureau Intelligence Response Squad (FIB-IRT).
According to him, the arrest of the suspects were some of the recent successes in crime-fighting achieved through the deployment of technologically advanced assets, community-based, as well as traditional policing methods, and improved police visibility by the FIB-IRT and the police generally.
“The suspects were apprehended while attempting to hack into a company’s account and steal the sum of 3.4 Billion Naira,” the police spokesperson said.
He listed other recent successes of the police to include the arrest of six members of a notorious bank robbery gang in Ibadan, Oyo State.
He said the suspects were arrested after they concluded plans to execute a bloody bank robbery attack on a new generation bank within the Ibadan metropolis in Oyo State.
The police also arrested notorious arms dealers and two kidnap suspects in Kaduna leading to the release of two kidnapped victims in their custody.
The full statement by the police spokesperson reads: “The Inspector-General of Police, IGP Usman Alkali Baba, psc(+), NPM, fdc, has stated emphatically that his administration will not relent in fighting crimes, criminality, and general state of insecurity to a standstill in Nigeria. The IGP restated the steadfastness of the present leadership of the Nigeria Police, while commending the Oyo State Police Command, and the Force Intelligence Bureau Intelligence Response Squad (FIB-IRT) for their recent successes in crime-fighting achieved through the deployment of technologically advanced assets, community-based, as well as traditional policing methods, and improved police visibility.
“The IGP specifically acknowledged the achievements recorded via identification, trailing, and arrest of criminal suspects through actionable technical and human intelligence including the arrest of 6 members of a notorious bank robbery gang after concluding plans to execute a bloody bank robbery attack on a new generation bank within the Ibadan metropolis in Oyo State.
“Similarly, the FIB-IRT has successfully effected the arrest of 5 members of a fraud syndicate specialized in hacking into bank accounts of individuals and corporate bodies to steal monies.
“The suspects were apprehended while attempting to hack into a company’s account and steal the sum of 3.4 Billion Naira. The IRT Operatives equally arrested notorious arms dealers and two kidnap suspects in Kaduna leading to the release of two kidnapped victims in their custody, just to mention a few.
“The Inspector-General of Police has therefore tasked operatives to embrace holistically, effective intelligence gathering, which aids the prevention of crime and criminal activities within the society. The IGP noted that preventive policing would in addition prevent the occurrence of crime, engender peace and assure the provision of optimal policing services to the citizenry.
“He assured of his administration’s unflinching commitment to maximizing the operational, intelligence, and investigative capacities of the Force in curbing the spread of crime and criminality within the country.
“All suspects in connection with the above-mentioned cases will be charged to court upon conclusion of investigations while other suspects arrested across the country are being prosecuted at various courts of competent jurisdictions in the country.
