The Niger State Police Command has arrested three fake operatives of the Economic and Financial Crimes Commission (EFCC) and two informants for allegedly abducting and robbing students of the Ibrahim Badamasi Babangida University, Lapai.

 

In a statement on Friday, the command’s spokesperson, DSP Wasiu Abiodun, said the suspects—Emmanuel Linus (30), Hyelda Aliyu (28), and Abduljallid Tanko (33)—were apprehended after abducting two students from their off-campus residence while impersonating EFCC officials.

 

The operation was foiled after police operatives from Lapai Division traced the suspects to Suleja Road, by Kwakuti, and arrested them with a Toyota Corolla vehicle used in the operation. One suspect, identified as Alfa James, escaped and remains at large.

 

Abiodun revealed that the suspects used electric tasers disguised as firearms during the attack, stole five mobile phones, and demanded a ransom of N10 million, which was later negotiated to N500,000.

 

The suspects confessed to producing fake EFCC ID cards in Nyanya, Abuja, and were aided by informants Mohammed Hassan and Hamisu Adamu of Angwan-Hausa, Lapai. One of the suspects, Emmanuel Linus, was identified as a dismissed soldier with a criminal history and previous conviction.

 

The case is under investigation at the State Criminal Investigation Department (SCID) and the suspects will be charged to court upon completion of the investigation.