Police Public Relations Officer, PPRO, Cross River State, John Eluu, an Assistant Superintendent of Police, ASP, who shared this information said the syndicate which normally kept an eagle eye at banks, picked a soft target in the last operation, a lady, collected her ATM card and PIN, proceeded to the First Bank ATM on Calabar Road and made three withdrawals totaling N150, 000 (one hundred and fifty thousand naira), before the bubble burst.
Eluu told members of the Association of Cross River Online Journalists, ACROJ, who paid him a courtesy visit that, the lady in question only realized herself and raised alarm after the withdrawal had been made. “She shouted and went to report to the police. Our people kept an eye on the machine and on the second day a member of the syndicate came to empty the account and he was immediately picked up. He took us to other members of the syndicate who have since been rounded up and are in our custody. We are charging them to court”, he said.
Earlier, ACROJ Chairman, Iwara U. Iwara, who led the delegation, said the visit was to congratulate the PPRO on his recent appointment and to further explore areas of co-operation and build a partnership that will help firm up the practice of online journalism in the state. He thanked the PPRO for taking time out to host the association and pledged his commitment to seeing that the relationship established with the police will be kept going.