The Nigeria Police Force (NPF) has uncovered a massive telecommunications fraud syndicate that allegedly compromised a telecom company’s billing infrastructure and fraudulently generated data valued at over N7.7 billion.

The operation, carried out by the Nigeria Police Force National Cybercrime Centre (NPF-NCCC), led to the arrest of several suspects and the recovery of nearly N90 million, two residential houses, a mini-plaza, and a Toyota RAV4 vehicle, believed to be proceeds of the crime.

Police said the investigation began after a leading telecommunications service provider petitioned the NPF-NCCC over the unauthorised use of staff login credentials and the compromise of its network systems.

According to investigators, the suspects infiltrated the company’s billing infrastructure between October 1 and November 28, 2024, during which they fraudulently generated airtime that was subsequently converted into data bundles and distributed through a network of vendors across the country.

The fraud caused losses running into billions of naira before the telecom provider detected the breach and alerted security agencies.

In a statement on Thursday, the Police Public Relations Officer of the NPF-NCCC, DSP Unwana Imah, said preliminary investigations revealed that the syndicate operated a sophisticated network involving both insiders and external collaborators.

Imah said the first phase of the operation resulted in the arrest of several suspects and the recovery of more than 400 laptops, 1,000 mobile phones, Point-of-Sale (POS) machines, cash exhibits and other incriminating materials.

Investigators further disclosed that the affected telecommunications company successfully reversed approximately 2,931.79 terabytes of fraudulently acquired data valued at about ?3.8 billion.

The police said a second wave of coordinated operations, carried out in May 2026 across Kano, Katsina and Zamfara states, led to the arrest of key suspects, including Musa Muhammed Kwandi, Nura Sadauki and Aminu Muhammed.

Other suspects arrested in connection with the case include Musa Hassan Mohammed, described as an Information Technology specialist, Samson Alisigwe and Yusuf Shehu.

According to the police, financial investigations and asset tracing established that the suspects benefited substantially from the illicit proceeds.

“As part of the recovery process, operatives traced and recovered almost 90 million, two residential houses in Kano State, a mini-plaza and a Toyota RAV4 vehicle believed to have been acquired from proceeds of the criminal enterprise,” the statement said.

The NPF-NCCC said investigations are ongoing to identify additional members of the syndicate, recover more assets and ensure the prosecution of all those involved.

Inspector-General of Police (IGP) Olatunji Disu reaffirmed the Nigeria Police Force’s commitment to safeguarding the nation’s critical digital infrastructure and intensifying the fight against cybercrime.

He urged members of the public with useful information on cyber-related crimes to report it through the NPF-NCCC e-reporting portal and other official communication channels. (The Nation)

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