The Edo State Police Command has dismissed five of its officers and smashed a ten-member criminal syndicate that had been terrorising residents of Benin City through a coordinated scheme of abduction and extortion, in which suspects dressed in police uniforms preyed on unsuspecting citizens and marched them to Point of Sale operators to forcibly drain their bank accounts.
The Command's Public Relations Officer, Eno Ikoedem, disclosed this in a statement made available to journalists in Benin on Monday, confirming that the criminal network had been busted through a sustained intelligence-driven operation ordered by the Commissioner of Police, Monday Agbonika, after the command received several complaints from members of the public alleging harassment, abduction and extortion by individuals posing as police officers.
According to Ikoedem, investigations revealed that the syndicate was made up of ten members drawn from a disturbing mix of backgrounds, including serving police officers, dismissed police personnel, POS operators and commercial bus drivers, all of whom collaborated to carry out their operations with calculated precision. The suspects were identified as Goodluck Jaja, a POS operator; ASP Bonny Onajite; Inspector Ehubarieme Wisdom; Inspector Arebame God's Power; Corporal Mordi Philip; Destiny Emmanuel, a previously dismissed police corporal; Corporal Okon Elvis; Samuel Nicholas, a minibus driver; and Etim Bright, also a minibus driver.
The command said the gang operated primarily along the Teboga axis off Aduwawa, where they unlawfully stopped unsuspecting citizens, bundled them into vehicles and conveyed them along various roads within Benin City before eventually taking them to POS operators who were complicit in the scheme, where the victims were compelled under duress to authorise fraudulent transactions that drained their accounts. The exploitation of police uniforms and equipment to deceive and intimidate victims allowed the gang to operate with a level of brazenness that the command described as a direct assault on the reputation of the Nigeria Police Force.
Agbonika, disturbed by the gravity of the complaints, ordered a discreet and intelligence-led investigation that deployed sustained surveillance and technical intelligence gathering, eventually cracking the network and leading to the arrest of all ten suspects. The serving police officers among those arrested have been dismissed from the force, and Ikoedem said that upon the conclusion of all necessary processes and the ongoing investigation, all members of the syndicate would be arraigned before a court of competent jurisdiction to face the full weight of the law.
The command called on all victims who had encountered or fallen prey to the gang to come forward and assist the police with information that could aid further investigation and prosecution. It also issued a stern warning to POS operators and merchants across Benin City, cautioning them to be vigilant and resist any attempt by individuals, including those in police uniforms, to use their facilities for unlawful transactions or extortion. The command warned that any POS operator found to be complicit in such illegal activities would be arrested and prosecuted without exception.
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