By Deborah Nnamdi
The Niger State Police Command has announced the arrest of three individuals who allegedly impersonated operatives of the Economic and Financial Crimes Commission (EFCC) and abducted students from Ibrahim Badamasi Babangida (IBB) University, Lapai.
In a statement released on Friday in Minna, the Command’s spokesperson, SP Wasiu Abiodun, revealed that two additional individuals who served as informants for the suspects were also apprehended.
According to Abiodun, the police received a report around 8:00 p.m. on May 13, stating that four men had stormed an off-campus student lodge, pretending to be EFCC officials. They abducted two students and took them away in a Toyota Corolla with registration number ABJ 245 CU.
Officers from the Lapai Division quickly mobilized and pursued the vehicle. The suspects were intercepted and arrested along Suleja Road, near Kwakuti.
The arrested suspects were identified as Emmanuel Linus, 30, from Deidei; Hyelda Aliyu, 28, from Nyanya; and Abduljallid Tanko, 33, from Karu — all residents of Abuja. One suspect, identified as Alfa James, reportedly escaped.
During questioning, the suspects admitted they were invited by their informants and claimed such operations were their source of livelihood. They used three electric tasers disguised as guns to enter a student’s room, stole five mobile phones, and abducted two individuals.
Abiodun said the suspects initially demanded a ransom of N10 million but later reduced it to N500,000 before their arrest. He added that the fake EFCC ID cards used in the operation were produced at a shop in Nyanya, Abuja, all bearing the same ID number: 1069.
The informants were identified as Mohammed Hassan and Hamisu Adamu from Angwan-Hausa in Lapai. Abiodun noted that one of the suspects, Emmanuel Linus, was a dismissed soldier with a criminal history and had previously been convicted two years ago.
The case is currently under investigation by the State Criminal Investigation Department (SCID), and the suspects will be charged in court upon completion of the investigation.
