The Delta State Police Command has arrested members of a suspected robbery and fraud syndicate said to have swindled victims of cash, mobile phones, motorcycles, jewellery, and other valuables.
Police spokesperson SP Bright Edafe, in a statement issued on Saturday in Asaba, said operatives of the CP Special Assignment Team, acting on credible intelligence, carried out the arrests between August 11 and 16, 2025.
According to him, the suspects usually approach unsuspecting victims under the guise of seeking directions, after which they hypnotise and defraud them.
Items recovered from the gang include two Toyota Camry cars, 16 suspected stolen iPhones, and other valuables.
Those arrested were identified as Ibrukoko (32), Obruche Actor (31), Umukoro (28), Emmanuel Buruutu (22), Musa Abdulahi (27), Sokoh (30), Preye Julius (36), and Kadija Abass (30). Edafe said preliminary investigations showed that the syndicate had so far defrauded victims of over N23 million, stolen about 42 iPhones, several motorcycles, and targeted at least 12 women.
In a separate operation, the Command also apprehended five suspects in the Ekpan area over a series of ladder thefts.
The suspects were said to have posed as customers renting ladders, which they never returned.
“On August 22, 2025, following multiple complaints, the DPO detailed operatives on an intelligence-led investigation that led to the arrest of one Esquire Stanley, who confessed to selling the ladders at N25,000 each,” Edafe said.
Further investigation, he added, led to the arrest of Chinedu Okorie, Orgi Abara, Philip Augustine, and Obone Jevweu. Eleven stolen ladders were recovered from them.