Five suspects, including two bank staff have been arrested by the Police Intelligence Response Team for attempting to hack into accounts of individuals and corporate bodies to steal N3.4 billion in Ibadan, the Oyo State capital.
The police team also arrested 6 members of a notorious bank robbery gang which had concluded plans to execute a bloody bank robbery of a new generation bank within the Ibadan metropolis in Oyo State.
Force Public Relations Officer, CSP Muyiwa Adejobi, who disclosed this in a statement yesterday, said the arrest was recorded via identification, trailing, and arrest of the criminal suspects through actionable technical and human intelligence
The statement read: “The suspects were apprehended while attempting to hack into a company’s account and steal the sum of N3.4 billion.
“The IRT operatives equally arrested a notorious arms dealers and two kidnap suspects in Kaduna, leading to the release of two kidnapped victims in their custody, just to mention a few.
”The Inspector-General of Police has, therefore, tasked operatives to embrace holistic, effective intelligence gathering, which aids the prevention of crime and criminal activities within the society.
“The IGP noted that preventive policing would in addition prevent the occurrence of crime, engender peace and assure the provision of optimal policing services to the citizenry.
“He assured of his administration’s unflinching commitment to maximizing the operational, intelligence, and investigative capacities of the Force in curbing the spread of crime and criminality within the country.
“All suspects in connection with the above mentioned cases will be charged to court upon conclusion of investigations while other suspects arrested across the country are being prosecuted at various courts of competent jurisdictions in the country,” he said.
The IGP disclosed that his administration would not relent in fighting crimes, criminality, and general state of insecurity to a standstill in Nigeria.
“He commended Oyo State police command, and the Force Intelligence Bureau Intelligence Response Squad (FIB-IRT) for their recent successes in crime fighting, achieved through deployment of technologically advanced assets, community-based, as well as traditional policing methods, and improved police visibility.”