Police Recover 400 Laptops, Arrest Six Over Alleged N7.7bn Airtime Fraud

The Nigeria Police Force has arrested six people for allegedly hacking into a telecom company to divert of airtime and mobile data worth N7.7 billion.

A statement on Wednesday by the police spokesperson, Benjamin Hundeyin, said the suspects illegally accessed the company’s internal systems and carried out the fraud over a period of time.

The arrested individuals were identified as Ahmad Bala, Karibu Mohammed Shehu, Umar Habib, Obinna Ananaba, Ibrahim Shehu and Masa’ud Sa’ad.

Hundeyin said police operatives recovered two mini plazas used as retail outlets, where more than 400 laptops and about 1,000 mobile phones were found.

The police spokesman said that a Toyota vehicle was also seized during the operation.

He added that large sums of money linked to the alleged crime were traced to the suspects’ bank accounts.

“The syndicate was responsible for the illegal diversion of a telecommunications company’s airtime and data resources, resulting in an estimated financial loss of over ₦7.7 billion,” the statement reads.

“The breakthrough followed a petition by a Nigerian telecommunications company, which reported suspicious and unauthorised activities within its billing and payments infrastructure.

“Investigations revealed that internal staff login credentials had been compromised, granting threat actors unlawful access to core systems.

“Following weeks of planning, coordinated enforcement operations were executed in October 2025 in Kano and Katsina States, with a follow-up arrest in the Federal Capital Territory.

“The suspects would be charged to court on the completion of the investigation.

“Meanwhile, the Inspector-General of Police, IGP Kayode Adeolu Egbetokun, Ph.D., NPM, has commended the officers involved in the investigation for their professionalism.”

KanyiDaily also reported how police arrested seven people over a theft case involving goods worth N20.45 million from a commercial store in Ondo state.