Day Borno Police Arrest Atiku For Defrauding Buhari In Maiduguri

Abdulkareem Haruna

The Borno state police command had on Friday, July 15, paraded a notorious criminal suspect, Atiku Umar, who used to dupe people of their money and assets by faking to be a jinn spirit of the underworld. 

Mr Atiku’s latest victim, before he was nabbed by the Nigerian police, was Buhari Muhammad, a resident of Maiduguri Borno state capital. 

According to the Borno state police command, Mr Atiku runs a dubious group of fraudsters who usually claim they are jinns of the spiritual world and would  make false claims about certain impending dangers looming over the lives of their victims who must urgently make certain financial or asset sacrifices to avert it. 

The police said Mr Atiku was nabbed by the men of the Crack Squad on June 24, at about 2.50 pm following a complaint made by one   Mallam Buhari Muhammad that “a syndicate of persons, who claimed to be spirits (Aljanu) from the underworld” deceived him into parting with his cash and assets. 

Mr Buhari said the fraudsters cajoled him “into believing that they were sent by God to financially reward him based on his positive integrity”. 

He said they made him “to go to a designated location at government girls secondary School Maiduguri were dropped five assorted mobile phone handsets valued (N350,000), the sum of (N12,000) cash before they would reward him”. 

The defrauded complainant said he complied as ordered but after delivering all that was asked of him, the fraudsters switched off their phones. 

Having gathered adequate information and developing actionable intelligence the Police Crack Squad was said to have spread its tentacles, as a  manhunt was launched until Atiku and his perpetrators were smoked out on June 25. 

The police said Mr Atiku Umar who was a resident of Gwange confessed to the crime and mentioned three of his accomplices who assisted him to commit the dastardly act.

The police said it has launched an Investigation towards the arrest of the three accomplices, who are currently at large.