By ABDULLAHI RABIU, Kano
THE Department of State Service (DSS) has uncovered a Notorious Banks Criminals popularly known as “Open Boots”, who specializes in trailing their victims after withdrawing Monies from the bank before reaching their traget destination.
The gang will either possibly collect it or break victims Vehicles to steal the Money.
Parading the ring Leaders of the Bank Criminal Syndicate, the Kano State Director of the DSS, Alhassan Muhammad, said for the last three years the Criminals were terrorising Kano and it’s environs with their dastardly acts.
He said the Ring Leaders of the syndicate who are in their Custody, namely Abubakar Umar, 30, Abubakar Suleiman 38 and Ya’u Abubakar 35, were apprehended on 2nd November 2021 after breaking a Motorcycle and do away with N300,000.
“We got them around Ja’in quarters in Gwale Local government area of the state while attempting to steal Money, tgrough our Surveillance team who were on ground we were able to unravel the their plans.
“For the last three years, these guys were operating in Kano, Kaduna, Katsina, Maiduguri and so many other States, and on several occasions they were arrested but got free because of the Institutional weaknesses facing us”.
The Director, hints that members of the Criminal Syndicate are all over places operating and already they have spread their Men to ensure that they got all of them, adding that at the end of their investigation they would hand them over to the Police who have prosecuting powers on these kind of cases.
Alhassan Muhammad said, “we have strong evidence against them and their activities could be Robbery because where they have not gotten easy money to collect they sometimes use force on their victims.”
The Director said the victim whose N300,000 was taken from his Motorcycle said without mentioning his Name that he collected money from the Bank and which he want to transfer not knowing he will do it at the bank, but went to POS where while negotiating with the operator the Criminals took away his Money.
“I thanked the DSS who were closed by and on surveillance, without my knowledge, they trailed them and got my money back”.
One of the Ring Leaders of the Criminal Bank Gangs, Abdulbasi Umar confessed that he was in the “Open Boots Syndicate” for the last three years and at a time he dumped it and when to Dubai but he came back and continue with it.
He said in all the operations they carried out he got the biggest Money of N300,000 and that they have never used any dangerous weapons in their operations.
