For years now, thanks to the introduction of
tracking into Nigerian Police investigation, thousands of stolen smart phones
had been tracked and recovered.
But just as police are fine tuning their
investigative skills, criminals are also doing everything possible to outsmart
them.
Rilwan’s story is a classic case of attempt to outwit
the police and make mockery of investigations.
Rilwan allegedly specialised in making stolen smart
phones, and those used for ransom negotiations by kidnappers untraceable. He
was hunted down and arrested by operatives of the Inspector-General of Police
(IGP) Special Intelligence Response Team (IRT), led by a Deputy Commissioner of
Police (DCP), Abba Kyari.
Rilwan was arrested at the popular Computer Village
Market, Ikeja, Lagos State.
Recounting how he used to make stolen phones
untraceable, Rilwan said: “I’m a Software Engineer. I learnt how to make stolen
smart phones untraceable through Google search engine and GSM Forum. I
normally charge the sum of N2500 to change the International Mobile Equipment
Identity (IMEI) number for my customer’s phones. I knew that the phones given
to me to change their IMEI numbers were stolen. I can only change the IMEI of
Techo and Infinix phones. I can’t change those of Samsung, Iphone and
Blackberry.”
Rilwan, a graduate of Emmanuel Alayande College of
Education, Oyo State, was arrested along with an alleged stolen phone dealer,
Gbolahan Osho. Osho operates at the Computer Village Market, Ikeja. It was
gathered that he had been arrested several times over cases of stolen phones.
A police source said: “Rilwan’s arrest came after
difficulties experienced by operatives of the IRT and other units of the
Nigerian Police, while conducting investigations into heinous crimes such as
murder, armed robbery and kidnappings. It was discovered that most of the
stolen phones or those used for ransom negotiations, had been deactivated from
the database of network providers across the country.
“A crack team of IRT operatives, from Lagos State, were deployed to investigate the development. It was discovered that some software engineers, operating at the Computer Village, Ikeja, had been configuring stolen smart phones for receivers, armed robbers and kidnappers. These engineers made use of software, which made the phones untraceable.”
“A crack team of IRT operatives, from Lagos State, were deployed to investigate the development. It was discovered that some software engineers, operating at the Computer Village, Ikeja, had been configuring stolen smart phones for receivers, armed robbers and kidnappers. These engineers made use of software, which made the phones untraceable.”
The police source further explained that the
methodology used in making stolen phones untraceable was discovered after the
arrest of Osho.
Speaking during interrogations, Osho said that Rilwan
used to assist him to configure most of the stolen mobile phones, which he
(Osho), received from suspected criminals, using the special software.
Rilwan explained: “I can corrupt the IMEI of Techno
and Infinix phones using upgraded version of software known as Octopus. This
Octopus is used mainly in unlocking phones, but it also automatically makes
phones untraceable for a period of three months. At least by that time, the
owner of the phones would have stopped looking for it. This will ensure
protection of the seller from danger of being found out.”
He continued: “I want you to know that the new IMEI
is not permanent. It reverses back to its original IMEI number after three
months. And if the user wants, we can still change it for him or her again. Osho
is not the only person I used to change the IMEI numbers of stolen phones for. There
are other people, who also used to come to me to change their IMEI numbers for
them. I don’t know where most of them get the phones from. I don’t
usually change the IMEI numbers for people I don’t know.”
According to Osho 31, he used to buy and sell stolen
Techno and Infix phones.
His words: “I sell used and new phones at the
Computer Village Ikeja. I source my phones from people who buy from UK. I also
buy stolen or robbed phones from Mustapha, Baba Iyabo, Lucky and Ope. I
buy mainly Techo and Infinix phones from these people. The reason is
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. I
used to buy them for N15, 000 and N17, 000 depending on the grade of the phone.
I was arrested by policemen from Ipakodu, Ikorodu. I was arrested after a customer,
who bought a stolen phone from me, was arrested. The customer led the police to
me. After I was released, I went back to the market. I told people how the
police arrested my customer who led them to arrest me. They told me that I was
foolish not to have changed the IMEI number of the stolen phone before selling
it. They linked me to Rilwan, who is a software engineer. He changed
the IMEI number for me at the cost of N1500. After that, I took four
phones to him. Since then, I can now change the IMEI number. I thought it wouldn’t
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 items.”
It was after Osho’s arrest that he told police about
Rilwan’s operation. He added: “Rilwan simply changes the original IMEI number
into a new one. This makes the stolen phone untraceable for police
investigators. I pay N2500 for each configured phones.”
After his arrest,
Osho led IRT operatives to Rilwan’s office inside the computer village market. Police
recovered two laptops from Rilwan.
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