One of the suspects
By Stephen Ojo
The police in Niger state have nabbed two persons for stealing POS machines and withdrawing various sums of money amounting to N463 000 from accounts operated with the machines.
The Police Public Relations Officer PPRO of the Niger State police command, SP Wasiu Abiodun confirmed this in a statement issued in Minna on Monday.
He explained that one of the suspects, Augustine Odiokwu Nonso was arrested in Bosso area of Minna while the second suspect Ahmed Mohammed was arrested in Mokwa area of the state.
SP Abiodun explained that on 17/4/2024 at about 1130hrs, a direct complaint was received at Bosso Div, that a POS attendant one Augustine Odiokwu Nonso 28yrs of Bosso Estate absconded with a POS machine and some money to an unknown destination
He said, “Upon receipt of the complaint, Police operatives attached to the Div with the aid of technical intelligence on 20/4/2024 arrested the suspect within Bosso Estate, he confessed to the crime and about #170,000 was discovered to have been stolen by him”, adding that
he claimed that he used the money to play Naijabet at different locations.
The second suspect
On how Ahmed Mohammed was arrested, the PPRO explained that on 04/05/2024 at about 2100hrs, a complaint was also received at Mokwa Div that a POS machine was stolen at Kainji junction.
“During investigation, one Ahmed Mohammed 20yrs of Efu-Goro area of Mokwa was arrested on 5/5/2024 in connection with the crime. During interrogation, he confessed that he went to the POS shop and stole the machine, while he replaced it with a faulty one in his possession”.
According to the police, the suspect later withdrew N293,000 from the machine, having observed the attendant and copied the password, adding that he also claimed that he used the money to play sportybet.