The Nigeria Police Force (NPF) has arrested six suspected members of a telecom fraud syndicate linked to the illegal diversion of airtime and data resources valued at over ₦7.7 billion.
According to a report by NTA shared on their official X handle, the arrests were made by operatives of the National Cybercrime Centre (NCCC) following an investigation into suspicious activities within the billing and payment infrastructure of a telecommunications company. According to police findings, the fraud involved unauthorized access to core operational systems after staff login credentials were compromised.
Investigators said the breach allowed the syndicate to manipulate airtime and data allocations on a large scale, quietly siphoning billions of naira before the anomaly was detected and reported by the affected telecom firm.
Following weeks of intelligence gathering and surveillance, coordinated operations were carried out in Kano and Katsina states, with a follow-up arrest in the Federal Capital Territory (FCT). Six suspects were taken into custody during the operations.
Items recovered include over 400 laptops, about 1,000 mobile phones, two residential houses in Kano, two mini-plazas, GSM and laptop outlets, and a Toyota RAV4. Police also traced and recovered large sums of money from bank accounts linked to the suspects.
The police said investigations are ongoing and confirmed that the suspects will be charged to court upon the conclusion of inquiries.