Police operatives attached to the Suleja Area Command in Niger State have arrested two suspects after they allegedly attempted to swap an Automated Teller Machine (ATM) card belonging to a female victim at a commercial bank in the town.

According to a statement by the state Police Public Relations Officer, Wasiu Abiodun, the victim discovered the suspects were attempting to swap her ATM card and raised the alarm but the suspects immediately zoomed off.

The police patrol team subsequently trailed the vehicle and was intercepted at the old NEPA roundabout in Suleja Town. However, while the driver identified as David Therma abandoned the vehicle and escaped, the suspects, one Aver Wase and Godwin Deor, were arrested.

The police spokesman said, upon interrogation, the suspects confessed that they both left Lokoja for Zuba in Abuja and met Therma, who was said to have taken the vehicle from the driver of a ride-hailing service in Abuja.

The suspects claimed that they were graduates of educational technology from Benue State University and that they had been carrying out such nefarious activities for the past five months.

They reportedly confessed to withdrawing about N170,000 from other victims’ accounts in Nasarawa State, of which about N90,000 was withdrawn through victims’ cards in Lokoja.

However, the attempt in Suleja was not successful, they were quoted as saying.

The items recovered from the suspects included a Toyota Corolla vehicle with registration number YAB-267 CW, nine ATM cards, one POS machine and a flash drive.

The suspects are undergoing further investigation at the State Criminal Investigation Department Minna, and efforts are ongoing to apprehend Therma, who is still at large.