The Niger State Police Command has arrested three suspects who posed as operatives of the Economic and Financial Crimes Commission (EFCC) to abduct and rob students of Ibrahim Badamasi Babangida (IBB) University, Lapai.
The suspects, all from Abuja, were nabbed alongside two informants who allegedly provided them with information about the students’ whereabouts, according to a statement by the Police Public Relations Officer, SP Wasiu Abiodun, on Friday.
Abiodun said the police received a distress report at about 8:00 p.m. on May 13, alerting them that four men had stormed a student lodge off campus and abducted two students under the false identity of EFCC operatives.
The suspects reportedly used a Toyota Corolla with registration number ABJ 245 CU to whisk the students away.
“Police operatives attached to Lapai Division immediately mobilised and trailed the vehicle to Suleja Road, by Kwakuti, where the suspects were arrested,” Abiodun said.
The arrested suspects were identified as Emmanuel Linus, 30, of Deidei; Hyelda Aliyu, 28, of Nyanya; and Abduljallid Tanko, 33, of Karu. All three are residents of Abuja. One accomplice, identified as Alfa James, escaped arrest.
Abiodun explained that during interrogation, the suspects admitted that they were invited by their informants and that this was “their means of livelihood.”
“They entered one of the students’ room with three electric tasers held as guns, collected five phones and abducted two persons,” he said.
According to him, the suspects initially demanded a ransom of N10 million, but later negotiated the amount down to N500,000 before police intercepted them.
“They confessed further that the I.D cards used were designed at a shop in Nyanya, Abuja, bearing the same identification number 1069,” Abiodun added.
The police also arrested the alleged informants, identified as Mohammed Hassan and Hamisu Adamu, both of Angwan-Hausa in Lapai. Investigations revealed that one of the suspects, Emmanuel Linus, had been acquainted with the students’ routines through his connection with Hassan, having previously met in Paiko.
Further checks showed that Linus is a dismissed soldier with a criminal history and was previously convicted two years ago.
Abiodun said investigations are ongoing at the State Criminal Investigation Department (SCID), and the suspects will be charged to court as soon as the process is concluded.
He urged students and the public to remain vigilant and report suspicious activity promptly, especially with the increasing trend of criminal impersonation.
