Police Arrest Eight One-Chance Suspects, Recover Phones, Laptops

The Federal Capital Territory (FCT) Police Command has arrested eight suspected members of a one-chance theft syndicate accused of dispossessing a lady, the spouse of a police officer, of her cell phone and transferring cash from her financial institution accounts earlier than abandoning her.

The suspects have been arrested following an investigation involving digital monitoring expertise and the tracing of digital transactions linked to the August 7, 2026 incident.

The police additionally recovered 21 cell phones and three laptops, together with the sufferer’s gadget, throughout the investigation.

The Commissioner of Police, FCT Command, Ahmed Muhammed Sanusi, disclosed this on Tuesday throughout a press briefing on the Command Headquarters in Abuja.

According to Sanusi, the sufferer boarded a business taxi on the AYA Roundabout in Abuja at about 5pm on August 7, unaware that she had entered a automobile operated by members of a suspected one-chance syndicate.

The suspects allegedly seized her cell phone and transferred cash from her account into their very own earlier than accumulating her different valuables and abandoning her.

Following the incident, the police commissioner mentioned he directed the Command’s monitoring unit to research the case.

“ With the aid of digital reconstructive technology, we deconstructed the entire criminal operation, traced all electronic transactions and the mobile phone of the victim till we apprehended eight (8) suspects,” Sanusi mentioned.

The suspects have been recognized as Yunusa Sani, Ismail Mohammed, Abubakar Usman, Haruna Musa, Abdulrazaq Mohammed, Isah Abdulrahman, Isa Abdullahi and Aliyu Shuaibu.

Further investigations reportedly revealed that one of many suspects, Haruna Musa, specialised in electronically altering the International Mobile Equipment Identity (IMEI) numbers of stolen telephones earlier than reselling them to evade detection.

The police mentioned people suspected of receiving stolen properties had additionally been recognized and traced.

The suspects stay in custody and are anticipated to be charged in courtroom after the conclusion of investigations.

In a separate case, the FCT Police Command arrested a suspected armed robber, Chibuike Odeh, over an assault on a lady returning dwelling from work in Abuja.

The police mentioned the suspect, who resides within the Daki-Biyu space of Jabi District, was arrested following a grievance lodged on the Jabi Police Division on October 18.

According to Sanusi, the incident occurred on September 26, when the sufferer was allegedly accosted by a masked assailant who threatened her with a knife and forcefully took her purse containing an iPhone and different valuables.

The suspect allegedly used the sufferer’s cellphone and ATM card to withdraw all the cash in her financial institution accounts.

Following the grievance, a surveillance staff was deployed to the suspect’s final identified location, resulting in his arrest at his residence in Daki-Biyu.

A search of the premises reportedly yielded a bag, a knife, a pointy iron, a black face masks, an influence financial institution and a voter’s card.

The suspect and the recovered objects stay in police custody pending the conclusion of investigations.

The police commissioner additionally disclosed the arrest of two suspected armed robbers, Jamilu Abdulsalam and Ibrahim Isa Sani, who have been allegedly members of a theft syndicate working throughout Abuja and elements of Nasarawa, Niger and Kogi states.

Sanusi mentioned the suspects have been arrested alongside the AYA–Nyanya Expressway on September 17, 2026, at about 2pm, following intelligence studies.

According to him, the suspects have been on the Command’s needed listing and had allegedly carried out a theft shortly earlier than their arrest whereas trying to go away the FCT for his or her hideout in Nasarawa State.

The police mentioned members of the syndicate chosen their targets, studied their actions and routines, and attacked them at gunpoint to steal their valuables.

Items recovered from the suspects included three regionally made pistols, three reside cartridges, 4 knives, 17 cell phones, two cutlasses and a point-of-sale machine.

The suspects are anticipated to be charged in courtroom after investigations are concluded.