Police Arrest 3 Over N4.9m Counterfeit Notes

IG of Police Solomon Arase

The police in Niger on Friday said it arrested three suspects in the state in connection with N4.9 million counterfeit notes in N1, 000 denominations.

The Police Public Relations Officer (PPRO) in the state, Mr Bala Elkana, made this known at a news briefing in Minna.

Elkana gave the name of the suspects as Mohammed Abubakar, Ibrahim Mohammed and Mohammed Jiya.

He said the first suspect Mohammed Abubakar of Kpakungu area of Minna was arrested by the police based on a tip off on June 6.

He said that during the arrest, Abubakar who claimed to be an indigene of Kuteri Woro in Lavun Local Government Area of the state was caught in possession of alleged fake naira notes worth N4.9 million.

The PPRO said on interrogation the suspect confessed to the crime which led to the arrest of two other accomplices Ibrahim Mohammed and Mohammed Jiya.

He said the police discovered that the second suspect Ibrahim Mohammed brought the said counterfeit money from two fleeing suspects identified as Alhaji Ali and one Abdullahi.

Elkana said the two suspects now at large were believed to be both of Kaduna state origins.

The officer said that further investigation into the matter was still in progress with a view to arresting the fleeing suspect and bringing them to justice.

He, however, advised unsuspecting members of the public, who transact their businesses with huge sums of money to beware of suspected counterfeiters or transact their businesses through the banks.

The three suspects who admitted to the crime told newsmen that no one has fallen victim to their act, saying “it was our first time of coming into the business.”

The second suspect, Ibrahim Mohammed who claimed to be a marketer with a new generation Bank in Minna, said “our plan was that if we get customers who were ready to buy as much as N25O,000 of the counterfeit money our own commission was fixed at N50, 000 of genuine naira notes.”

He said if they had succeeded in selling the N4.9 million worth of the counterfeit money before their arrest they would have made a profit of N1 million genuine naira notes from unsuspected members of the public.