Police nab 21 suspects over alleged cybercrime, fraud cases

The Nigeria Police Force National Cybercrime Centre (NPF-NCCC) has arrested 21 suspects in connection with multiple major cybercrime and fraud investigations, including a massive ₦7.7 billion telecom billing manipulation case targeting MTN Nigeria.

The Force Public Relations Officer, CSP Anietie Okonko Iniedu, announced the breakthrough in a statement on Thursday following separate coordinated crackdowns across the country.

According to the statement, investigations into the MTN case began after the telecommunications company reported the alleged unauthorised use of staff login credentials to manipulate its billing and payment systems.

Police said the suspects allegedly credited airtime to selected mobile numbers and converted it into data bundles distributed to more than 2,000 prepaid lines.

The alleged fraud is estimated to have caused losses of about ₦7.7 billion, while MTN reportedly recovered 2,931.79 terabytes of data valued at about ₦3.8 billion.

In another operation, the NPF-NCCC said it dismantled a suspected international cyber fraud syndicate in Asaba, Delta State, arresting six suspects accused of impersonating internationally recognised personalities to allegedly defraud foreign victims.

The police said the operation followed intelligence received from the National Crime Agency (NCA) through the British High Commission in Abuja.

The statement also said the NPF-NCCC, working with the City of London Police under Operation Seraphim, arrested four suspects allegedly linked to a Telegram-based cybercrime network accused of stealing and selling the personal and financial information of mainly United Kingdom citizens.

In a separate investigation, police said three suspects were arrested over an alleged fake online investment platform presented as being affiliated with the Nigerian Exchange.

Investigators alleged that victims lost about ₦29.8 million, which was traced to cryptocurrency wallets linked to the suspected operators.

Police also announced the arrest of one suspect for allegedly circulating a manipulated video featuring social media influencer Martins Vincent Otse, popularly known as VeryDarkMan, with audio falsely attributed to President Bola Tinubu.

Another suspect was arrested over a viral Facebook post that allegedly claimed nearly 1,000 Boko Haram members had been deployed to Abuja.

Police described the claim as false and capable of causing public panic.

The Force Public Relations Officer said nine principal suspects remain at large and that investigations are continuing to apprehend other individuals linked to the various cases.

The allegations remain under investigation, and the suspects are presumed innocent unless proven guilty in court.