Three men who posed as operatives of the Economic and Financial Crimes Commission (EFCC) to abduct and extort students in Lapai, Niger State, have been arrested by the police.
The suspects — Emmanuel Linus, 30, of Dei-Dei, Abuja; Hyelda Aliyu, 28, of Nyanya, Abuja; and Abduljallid Tanko, 33, of Karo, Abuja — were intercepted on 13th May, 2025, by police operatives along Suleja Road by Kwakuti, hours after they stormed a student lodge and abducted two victims.
In a press statement issued by the Niger State Police Command and signed by the state’s Command Public Relations Officer Wasiu Abiodun on 15th May, it was revealed that the suspects had used a Toyota Corolla with registration number ABJ 245 CU for the operation and were armed with electric tasers disguised as guns.
“During interrogation, they confessed that they were invited by their informants, as this is their means of livelihood. They entered one of the students’ rooms with three electric tasers held as guns, collected five phones and abducted two persons,” the statement said.
“It was revealed that they requested ten million naira and later negotiated five hundred thousand naira before they were arrested. They confessed further that the I.D cards used were designed at a shop in Nyanya, Abuja bearing the same identification number 1069.”
The police also arrested two informants, Mohammed Hassan and Hamisu Adamu, both from Angwan-Hausa in Lapai, who provided the students’ details to the gang.
Investigations revealed that Emmanuel Linus, one of the key suspects, is a dismissed soldier with a criminal history and had met one of the informants in Paiko.
One member of the gang, identified as Alfa James, escaped arrest and is currently at large.
The suspects are in police custody at the State Criminal Investigation Department (SCID) and would be charged to court upon completion of the investigation, the command stated.
