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Anambra State Police arrested a 66-year-old man, Kenneth Nnaji, foiled a suspected kidnap plot, and rescued a victim during an operation Saturday evening, part of a broader case that has exposed a three-man fraud syndicate operating across Anambra and Enugu states, police said.
Operatives attached to the Rapid Response Squad in Awkuzu carried out the operation on July 11, arresting Nnaji over his alleged involvement in obtaining money under false pretenses in Awka and surrounding areas, according to a Tuesday statement from the command’s Public Relations Officer, Tochukwu Ikenga.
Preliminary investigations found that Nnaji allegedly belongs to a three-man syndicate specializing in defrauding members of the public through an elaborate deception scheme, Ikenga said. During interrogation, the suspect allegedly confessed to his role in the enterprise and provided investigators with details on the group’s operating methods.
According to the police account, the syndicate’s method relies on impersonation and staged transactions. Members allegedly disguise themselves in branded overalls and caps, posing as representatives of established companies to gain the trust of prospective victims. The group then allegedly obtains goods from victims under the pretext of collecting samples, before redirecting them to a second location with claims that larger quantities of the same goods are available at steep discounts. It is at this second stage, police said, that victims are ultimately defrauded.
Nnaji identified three associates during questioning: a man known only as Christopher, whose surname has not been ascertained; Jacob Musa; and a man known only as Joseph, whose surname is also unconfirmed. All three remain at large, and Ikenga said efforts to arrest them and dismantle the syndicate are ongoing.
Anambra Commissioner of Police Ikioye Orutugu directed the investigating team to conduct a thorough probe, secure the arrest of the fleeing suspects, recover proceeds from the alleged fraud, and prosecute all those found culpable. Orutugu also urged members of the public to verify the identities and credentials of anyone claiming to represent a company before engaging in business transactions with them, a caution directly tied to the impersonation tactic police say the syndicate relied on.
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Nnaji will be charged to court once the investigation concludes, Ikenga said.
The statement did not disclose details of the kidnap plot referenced at the outset of the police account, including whether it was connected to the same syndicate or the identity and condition of the rescued victim. It also did not specify how the case moved from a suspected kidnapping to an investigation centered on the alleged fraud scheme, leaving unclear how police established the link between the two incidents during the July 11 operation.
The case adds to a recurring category of impersonation-based fraud in southeastern Nigeria, where criminal groups posing as company representatives or product distributors have targeted businesses and market traders with sample-and-bulk-discount schemes designed to build false trust before extracting money or goods. Police commands across Anambra and neighboring states have periodically issued advisories urging traders and members of the public to independently verify company affiliations, request formal identification, or confirm business registration details before completing transactions with unfamiliar representatives, particularly those offering unusually favorable terms.
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The Rapid Response Squad, the unit credited with the arrest, functions as a specialized rapid-deployment unit under the state command, typically tasked with responding to violent crime, kidnapping, and armed robbery cases rather than routine fraud investigations, a detail that may explain why the case originated as a suspected kidnapping before evolving into the broader fraud probe now under investigation.
No estimate of the total financial loss attributed to the syndicate’s activities across Anambra and Enugu states was included in the police statement, nor was a timeframe given for how long the group is believed to have been operating before Saturday’s arrest.
