The Federal Capital Territory (FCT) Police Command has disclosed that it has apprehended a gang of six suspects for registering Subscriber Identity Module (SIM) cards with other innocent citizens’ identities and selling them to criminals, News About Nigeria reports.
The FCT Commissioner of Police, Benneth Igwe, stated this while parading the suspects on Thursday in the territory.
He noted that the suspects, after registering the SIMs, sell them to criminals for between N3,000 and N5,000, adding that the criminals operate with the details of innocent citizens to avoid being traced.
The suspects are Ndubuisi Okeh; John Jock; Nafiu Tijani (a dispatcher); Nasiru Sulaiman; John Njoku and Suleiman Musa.
He disclosed that four different numbers could be registered using a National Identity Number (NIN), stating that the criminals use street SIM card vendors to obtain the details of unsuspecting residents who buy and register SIM cards simultaneously.
He also explained that the suspects use street SIM card vendors to obtain the details of innocent residents, including their National Identity Numbers (NIN), from those who patronise them.
“On May 29, 2024, at about 3:00 pm, a team of detectives from the State Intelligence Department led by ACP Mohammed S. Baba, acting on credible intelligence, lured and arrested six suspects, namely: Ndubuisi Okeh, John Jock, Nafiu Tijani (a dispatcher), Nasiru Sulaiman, John Njoku, and Suleiman Musa, who specialises in the sale of already registered SIM cards to criminals who operate with other people’s identities to avoid being traced or tracked through their own details at a price of three to five thousand naira.
“It may interest you to know that four different numbers could be registered under a single NIN; hence, these criminals employ street sim card vendors to get the details of unsuspecting residents who buy sim cards and register at the same time,” he stated.
The Commissioner further revealed that a total of 1,100 registered SIM cards; three registration machines; two fingerprint machines and a mobile phone were recovered from the suspects.
