Staff Who Released His Login Details For ₦7.7bn Fraud Got ₦5m — Police

The Nigeria Police Force (NPF) has revealed that a staff member of a telecommunications company collected ₦5 million from a cybercrime syndicate in exchange for his staff login credentials, enabling a ₦7.7 billion fraud.

Force Public Relations Officer (FPRO), CSP Benjamin Hundeyin, disclosed the new detail in a post on X on Friday morning, noting that the suspect was unaware of the full extent of the theft until his arrest.

Hundeyin wrote: “The telecommunications company staff who handed over his staff login credentials to the criminals was paid ₦5m. He didn’t know how much the gang stole until he was arrested.”

Recall that LEADERSHIP had earlier in the week reported a telecom fraud case uncovered by the Nigeria Police Force National Cybercrime Centre (NPF-NCCC), which earlier announced the arrest of six suspects linked to the ₦7.7 billion scam.

According to the police, the fraud was discovered following a petition by the affected telecommunications company over suspicious and unauthorised activities within its billing and payment systems.

Coordinated operations carried out in October 2025 across Kano and Katsina States, with a follow-up arrest in the Federal Capital Territory (FCT), led to the arrest of Ahmad Bala, Karibu Mohammed Shehu, Umar Habib, Obinna Ananaba, Ibrahim Shehu and Masa’ud Sa’ad.

Items recovered during the operations included two residential houses, two mini-plazas, GSM and laptop retail outlets containing over 400 laptops and 1,000 mobile phones, as well as a Toyota RAV4 vehicle.

Funds traced to the suspects’ bank accounts were also recovered.

The Police said the suspects will be charged to court upon the conclusion of investigations.