A 25-year-old computer expert, Rilwan, who makes stolen phones untraceable in networks, has landed in police net.
The suspect, a native of Oyo State and a college of education graduate, also allegedly assisted kidnappers in making phones used for negotiations for ransoms untraceable.
The Inspector-General of Police Intelligence Response Team (IRT), led by DCP Abba Kyari, nabbed Rilwan at Computer Village, Ikeja, Lagos. Also in custody is his accomplice, Osho, who he described as his most trustworthy business associate and link man.
Rliwan told operatives that he was not denying the allegations of helping criminals to make their phones untraceable by security agents. He said: “I am a software engineer and I learned it online through Google search engine and GSM-Forum. I normally charge customers N2,500 to change the original International Mobile Equipment Identity (IMEI) number in their phones. I can’t deny the fact that I knew that the phones were stolen because no genuine businessmen or persons would be requesting that I should assist in making his or her phones untraceable by security agents. Common sense is there to guide us. I knew that the technology was frustrating police investigation but they are making it look as if I can change IMEI of every phone. No, I can only change the IMEI of Tecno and Infinix phones. I can’t change those of Samsung, iPhone, and Blackberry.”
Singing like a bird, he told the investigators how he carried out his so-called exploits.
“I can corrupt the IMEI of Tecno and Infinix using an upgraded version of a software known as Octopus, which is used mainly in unlocking phones, and it would automatically make the phones untraceable for a period of three months, by then the owner of the stolen phones may have stopped looking for them, also security agents trying to track the phones would have been frustrated and lost interest in the search for the phones.
“After the three months, the owner of the phone can come back and I would still make it untraceable for another three months. Some used to come back the third time. Why people come back many times is that the new IMEI is not permanent, it reverts back to its original IMEI number after three months and the user may want to change it again and I would still reactive it for him.
“Osho is not the only person for whom I used to change the IMEI numbers of the stolen phones, there other people who came to me to change for them. I don’t know and I don’t ask where they usually get the phones from. I don’t usually change the IMEI for people I don’t trust. All the people that I helped were either known to me or my friends like Osho used to refer them to me. I understand how my action frustrated police investigations but I did not send anybody to go for robbery or kidnapping,” Rilwan said.
On his part, Osho said: “I sell used and new phones. I normally source my phones from people who buy from the UK. I also buy stolen ones from Mustapha, Baba Iyabo, Lucky and Ope. I was buying mainly Tecno and Infinix phones from them because they couldn’t be sourced from people importing phones from the UK.
“I knew these people were selling stolen phones to me and I used to buy them for N15,000 and N17,000, depending on the grade.
“I was once arrested by policemen from Ipakodo when a customer who bought one of my stolen phones was arrested. The customer led the police to my shop, where I was arrested.
“After I was released from the cell, I went back to the market and I told people how the police arrested my customer, who led them to arrest me, and my friends laughed at me, saying I was foolish not to have changed the IMEI of the stolen phone before selling it. It was my friends that linked me to Rilwan, who was a software expert, and he changed the IMEI for me.
“After that, I started taking stolen phones to him and he was perfectly doing the job. So, I thought that after changing the IMEI number, it would not be easy for the police to arrest me again.
“If I come out of this problem, I won’t go back to this stolen phone business.”
A police detective who spoke on the condition of anonymity, as he was not authorised to talk to the press, said Rilwan’s arrest came following difficulties experienced by operatives of the IRT and other units of the police during investigations into heinous crimes such as murder, armed robbery, and kidnapping.
The source said, “Most stolen mobile phones or those used for ransom negotiation by kidnappers were discovered to be deactivated from the database of network providers across the country. We were having it difficult tracking stolen phones and those used by kidnappers. IGP Mohammed Adamu was briefed by our commander about the development.
“The IGP directed operatives of IRT, headed by DCP Kyari, to investigate the development and it was discovered that some software engineers operating at the Computer Village, Ikeja, have been configuring smartphones stolen by armed robbers and those used by kidnappers. The software made the phones untraceable.”
The source added that the operatives trailed Osho, who had been arrested many times for receiving and selling stolen mobile phones. Osho was arrested and, during interrogation, he confessed that Rilwan had been helping him to configure some of the stolen mobile phones that he received from armed robbers across the state with software that made them untraceable.
Osho also disclosed that Rilwan usually changed the phones’ original IMEI number to a new one whenever he gave him a stolen phone to configure, thus rendering the phone untraceable.
The senior police officer said the police have launched a manhunt for other software experts who were helping criminals, especially armed robbers and kidnappers, to frustrate police investigations.
