The Niger State Police Command has arrested three individuals posing as operatives of the Economic and Financial Crimes Commission (EFCC), accused of abducting and robbing students of Ibrahim Badamasi Babangida University (IBB), Lapai.
According to a statement released Friday by the Command’s spokesperson, SP Wasiu Abiodun, two informants who assisted the suspects were also apprehended.
Abiodun said the suspects stormed an off-campus student lodge around 8:00 p.m. on May 13, pretending to be EFCC officials. They abducted two students and fled in a Toyota Corolla (registration number ABJ 245 CU).
Prompt action by officers from the Lapai Division led to a chase, and the suspects were intercepted along Suleja Road near Kwakuti.
The arrested suspects were identified as Emmanuel Linus, 30, of Dei-Dei; Hyelda Aliyu, 28, of Nyanya; and Abduljallid Tanko, 33, of Karu all residents of Abuja. One accomplice, identified as Alfa James, managed to escape.
During interrogation, the suspects confessed to using fake EFCC ID cards which is allegedly produced in Nyanya and electric tasers disguised as firearms. They reportedly demanded N10 million in ransom from the abducted students, later reducing the amount to N500,000 before being caught.
The police also arrested their informants: Mohammed Hassan and Hamisu Adamu of Angwan-Hausa, Lapai. Investigations revealed that Emmanuel Linus, one of the suspects, is a dismissed soldier with a prior conviction.
The case has been transferred to the State Criminal Investigation Department (SCID) for further investigation. The suspects will be charged in court upon completion of the investigation.
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