Operatives of the Nigeria Security and Civil Defence Corps, Kano Command, late Tuesday night, arrested one Ahmad Abdulsalam in connection with alleged illegal possession of 22 registered Airtel SIM cards and 14 Fidelity Bank ATM cards bearing different names.
The Commandant of the Corps, Adamu Zakari, made the disclosure to newsman late Tuesday evening in Kano.
He described the arrest as a great and remarkable achievement within the short period of his assumption in office.
He said operatives of the Command, while on duty on Saturday, March 12. sighted the suspect, while activating some ATM cards at Fidelity Bank.
“Our men suspected a foul play against Abdulsalam, who failed to provide a satisfactory answer in connection with the 14 ATM cards found in his possession.
“Upon interrogation, he linked us to one Umar Surajo, who was said to have been a mastermind of the alleged crime.
Upon further interrogation, Abdulsalam confessed that he was introduced and employed into the deal by Umar Surajo, who directed him to go to the bank and activate the cards at the ATM.
Mr. Zakari maintained that one Muhammmad Ali, an agent of Airtel, was also apprehended over the alleged crime.
“Our Investigation revealed that those ATM cards were obtained from innocent villagers, who don’t know the implications of selling their ATM cards.
“The suspect goes to rural areas, deceives them to open bank accounts for them and process the ATM cards and later buys each card at the sum of N300.”
The commandant warned members of the public against selling their ATM cards, stressing that investigation revealed that illegal ATM cards are used to perpetrate illicit acts, which, according to him, include terrorist financing, money laundering, payment of ransom to kidnappers, among many other financial crimes.
He enjoined the public to provide the Corps with intelligence toward curtailing crime and criminality in Kano and Nigeria at large. Continue Reading
