By Oluwakemi Kindness
The Nigeria Police Force has arrested 21 suspected cybercriminals over multiple fraud cases, including the alleged manipulation of MTN Nigeria’s billing system that caused an estimated ₦7.7 billion loss.
Force Public Relations Officer,q Anietie Okonkon, disclosed this on Thursday evening while briefing journalists on major breakthroughs by the Nigeria Police Force National Cybercrime Centre (NPF-NCCC).
Okonkon said the MTN investigation began after the telecommunications company reported the unauthorised use of staff login credentials to manipulate its billing and payment systems.
He said the suspects fraudulently credited airtime to selected mobile numbers and converted it into data bundles distributed to more than 2,016 prepaid lines, resulting in estimated losses of ₦7.7 billion.
The FPRO added that MTN recovered 2,931.79 terabytes of stolen data valued at about ₦3.8 billion.
The police spokesperson said the NPF-NCCC also dismantled a suspected international cyber fraud syndicate in Asaba, Delta State, arresting six suspects accused of impersonating internationally recognised personalities to defraud foreign victims.
He said the operation followed intelligence provided by the National Crime Agency (NCA) through the British High Commission in Abuja.
Okonkon further disclosed that the NPF-NCCC, in collaboration with the City of London Police under Operation Seraphim, arrested four suspects linked to a Telegram-based cybercrime network that allegedly stole and sold the personal and financial information of mainly United Kingdom citizens.
He also said police arrested three suspects over a fake online investment platform allegedly presented as being affiliated with the Nigerian Exchange Group and endorsed by economist Yemi Kale.
According to him, the suspects defrauded investors of about ₦29.8 million, which investigators traced to cryptocurrency wallets linked to the alleged mastermind and his associates.
The police also arrested one suspect for allegedly circulating a doctored video featuring social media influencer Martins Vincent Otse (VeryDarkMan) with manipulated audio falsely attributed to President Bola Tinubu.
Another suspect was arrested for allegedly posting a viral Facebook video claiming that nearly 1,000 Boko Haram members had been deployed to Abuja, a claim police described as false and capable of causing public panic.
Okonkon said nine principal suspects remain at large, adding that investigations are ongoing to dismantle the remaining criminal networks and bring all those involved to justice.
