The Kano State Police Command, yesterday, announced the arrest of a ‘spirit’ that engages in extorting money from members of the public by instilling fear in them through telephone calls.
Briefing journalists at the Bompai headquarters of the command, the Kano State Police Commissioner, Mr. Ibrahim K. Idris, explained that the ‘spirit’ turned out to be one Alhaji Nura Hamza, a resident of Kurna Asabe Quarters in the state.
Idris explained that the suspect had taken advantage of the fear imposed in his victims by his status as a ‘spirit’ to cause them to source money and deposit same in a nearby bush, on an anthill, for spiritual purposes.
He added that the complainant in this particular case, after depositing N800,000 as directed by the ‘spirit,’ decided to confide his fate in a relative, who quickly alerted him that he was being duped.
According to him, following the report of the serial extortion to the police, detectives swung into action, luring the ‘spirit’ to the same destination on the anthill, where he had always directed his victims to drop the cash.
The bait, Idris said, yielded the needed result as the ‘spirit’, upon his arrival, turned out to be a human being, adding that the suspect was arrested and taken into custody.
He added: “When the suspect was interrogated, he confessed that he committed the offence. The cell phone used in intimidating and cheating the victims was found in the suspect’s possession.”
The police boss said when the home of the suspect was searched, seven pieces of fake US$100, three bundles of paper cut to size of US $100, four MTN SIM cards, three motorcycles, a generating set and one mobile phone line were recovered as exhibits by the police.
He disclosed that investigation into the incident was still on while adding that the suspect would be charged to court as soon as investigation was concluded.
Idris urged the public to report to the police any receipt of strange phone calls from unknown persons making strange requests, adding that the police had devised means of unraveling and arresting such criminal activities.
In a similar vein, the commissioner explained that the police had arrested 147 suspects in the last two weeks for alleged offences ranging from motor vehicle theft to possession of dangerous weapons and possession of fake local and foreign currencies.
He added that during the same period, 60 rounds of live cartridges, 15 rounds of 9mm, one magazine with 30 rounds of live ammunition, a toy gun, one locally made revolver pistol and one locally made pistol were recovered.
According to him, the gallantry, professionalism and commitment of his men in synergy with the Joint Security Task Force led to the reduction of crime and criminal activities in the state, adding that economic and social activities were gradually returning to normal.
