A software engineer, Mumuni Rilwan, who allegedly specialized in making robbed smart phones and those used for ransom negations by kidnappers untraceable has been arrested.
He was arrested by the operatives of the Inspector-General of Police Special Intelligence Response Team IRT, led by Abba Kyari, a Deputy
Commissioner of Police(DCP).
Crime Tracker gathered that the suspect was picked up at the popular Computer Village market Ikeja, Lagos. It was gathered that the suspect who is a graduate of Emmanuel Alayande College of Education, Oyo State was arrested alongside a notorious stolen phone dealer, Gbolahan Osho, also operating at the Computer Village market.
Sources at the IRT disclosed that, Rilwan’s arrest, came following difficulties experienced by operatives of the IRT and other units of the Nigeria Police Force, while conducting investigations into heinous crimes such as murder, armed robbery and kidnapping.
It was gathered that most robbed mobile phones or those used for ransom negotiation have been discovered to have been deactivated from the database of network providers across the country.
Police source hinted that, the Inspector General of Police, Mohammed Adamu, while acting on the development, directed his operative at the IRT headed by DCP Kyari, who also mandated a crack team of operatives attached to the IRT Lagos base headed by Philip Rieninwa, a Chief Superintendent of Police (CSP) to investigate the development.
In the course of investigation, it was discovered that some software engineers operating at the Computer village, had been configuring smart phones for stolen phones receivers, armed robbers and kidnappers with
software that have made them untraceable.
The source added that the operatives, trailed Osho, who they said have been arrested severally for receiving and selling robbed mobile phones during it investigation and Osho, who confessed when he was interrogated, stated that Rilwan has helped him confirmed most of the stolen mobile phones which he had received from armed robbers across the state with software that has made them untraceable.
Osho, was said to have disclosed that Rilwan, usually changes the phones original International Mobile Equipment Identify, IMEI number into a new one, whenever he gives him a stolen phone to configure, after which he would make the phone untraceable. He said that Rilwan was aware that the phones he worked on were robbed phones.
It was revealed that Osho, led the IRT to Rilwan’s office where he was arrested with two laptops which he allegedly used in configuring the phones. He allegedly confessed that he was using the upgraded version of a software known as Octopuses, which he said he got from the internet.
The 25-year-old suspect, who is a native of Oyo State, said; “I am a software engineer and I learned it online through Google search engine and GSM Forum. I normally charge the sum of N2500 to change the IMEI number for my customer’s phones and I knew that the phones were stolen and I can only change the IMEI of only Techo and Infinix phones and I can’t change those of Samsung, Iphone and Blackberry.”
I can corrupt the IMEI of Techno and Infinix using of upgraded version of a software known as Octopus which is used mainly in unlocking phone and it would automatically make the phones untraceable for a period of three months and by the then the owner of the robbed phones may have stopped looking for it and it them and this would not put the seller of the phone in danger. I want you to know the new IMEI is not permanent, it reverses back to its original IMEI number after three months and the user, what to change it again we will still change it for him.
Osho is not the only person I used to change the IMEI numbers of the stolen phones, there other people who came to me to change their IMEI numbers for them, and I don’t know where they usually get the phones from. I don’t usually change the IMEI for people I don’t know but all the people change it for are known to me and all the phones were all stolen.
Osho, 31, a native of Ikorodu area Lagos State said he was buying only stolen Techno and Infix phones; “ I sell used and new phones at the Computer village Ikeja, and I normally source my phones from people who buy from UK and I also buy stolen or robbed phones from Mustapha, Baba Iyabo, Lucky and Ope.
I was buy mainly Techo and Infinix phones from these people because they couldn’t be sourced from people importing phones from the UK. I knew these people were selling robbed or stolen phones to me and I used to buy them for N15,000 and N17,000 depending
the grade.
I was arrested the by policemen from Ipakodu sars, when a customer who bought one of my stolen phones was arrested and he led them to arrest me. After I was released, I went back to the market and I told people how the police arrested my customer who led them to arrest me then they told me that I was foolish not to have changed the IMEI of the stolen phone before selling it.
Then they linked me to one Rilwan who is a software engineer and he changed the IMEI for me and N1500. After then I taken four phones to him and since I can now change the IMEI number I thought it will not be easy for the police not to arrest me again. But with this arrest, I will not get myself involved again in dealing on stolen properties.”
Usman Chindo
