Two arrested with N80million fake currency in Niger State

The Police in Minna Niger state has seized about N8 million fake notes from two suspects, 70-year-old Abdulkharim Adamu and 50-year-old Umar Auta.

Adamu and Auta were arrested at the old abattoir area in Suleja town last weekend. State Police Command Public Relations Officer, ASP Mohammed Abubakar, said a Dane gun, machete, and axe were recovered from the residence of the suspects.ASP Abubakar said the suspects were trailed to their house by detectives where the fake N8 million currency notes were discovered, adding that further investigation showed that the duo had been in the business for a long time.

In October last year, a 37-year-old man, Abubakar Suleiman was arrested by the Niger State Police Command, after he took 88 bundles of $100 dollars fake currency to one Engineer Abdullahi Sambo of Shango area in Minna.

Suleiman who claimed he doesn’t know the real owner of the money, however claimed that he was directed to give it to Engineer Sambo.

The State’s Police Public Relations Officer (PPRO), Abigail Unaeze, who confirmed Suleiman’s arrest following a complaint lodged by Mamman Manya, one of the relatives of Sambo to the Chanchaga Police Division.

The Police alleged that Abubakar is part of a syndicate who specializes in the circulation of fake currency notes, adding that the police is on the trail of the other members of the syndicate.

Narrating how the money got to him, Suleiman who called his intermediary who gave him the money, Khalifa, while referring to the owners of the money as ‘genies’, said;

“I am on errand. The whole thing is just like a mystery.

I was called by some unknown persons to contact Kahlifa who will give me something to take to Engineer Sambo in Minna. The people promised to help me financially. When I got to Minna, I went to Sambo’s house, on getting there, his relatives called the police that I brought take notes for their father.”

When asked what the money was meant for, Abubakar said, “I do not know what the money is meant for. I was only told it was meant for Engineer Sambo. I am on errand and it was not my business to know if the notes are fake. I was doing what I was sent.”

However all effort to call reach Khalifa proved abortive, as he no longer picks his calls.