Delta police nab four members of phone-theft syndicate, recovers nine phones

The Delta State Police Command has arrested four suspected members of a phone-stealing syndicate and recovered nine brand-new Android phones.

In a statement released, the spokesperson of the command, SP Bright Edafe, said that following a series of reported thefts of mobile phones from shops in Asaba and its environs, operatives of the command, acting on credible intelligence and technical intelligence analysis, on 25 July 2026, arrested four suspects at their hideout along St. Brigid’s Road, Asaba. The suspects are Johna Omarocha (m), Kelvin Onogho (m), Nkechi Nnaji (f), and Ufuoma Joshua (m).

Edafe mentioned that a search at the hideout of the suspects led to the recovery of nine brand new Android phones still in their cartons. 

‘’Preliminary investigation indicates that the suspects are members of a syndicate specializing in stealing brand new phones from retail shops within Asaba and its environs. The suspects have reportedly confessed to the crime, while efforts are ongoing to arrest other fleeing members of the syndicate and identify the owners of the recovered phones. Preliminary investigation revealed that the suspects, in the guise of buying items from shops and supermarkets, use newspapers to cover phones in the shop and cart away with the phones when leaving the shops. The syndicate engages the female suspect among them who then waybills the phones to Lagos where the IMEI numbers of the phones are altered and then they sell the phones” he said

Edafe added that the four suspects are in custody and will be charged to court as soon as investigation is concluded.