99 days for the thief, one day for the owner. The evil operations of a notorious fake job syndicate has been halted by the men of the Benue State Police Command.

Fake job syndicates have been a major menace in the country as they rob innocent job seekers of their scarce funds by offering non-existent fictitious jobs.

The members of the six-man strong fraud syndicate specialized in duping unsuspecting job seekers in Benue and environs of their money under the pretext of getting them employed in a purported paramilitary outfit known as Elite Community Initiative (Corps) of Nigeria.

The state Police Public Relations Officer (PPRO), Daniel Ezeala, a Deputy Superintendent of Police (DSP), in a statement said luck ran out on the suspected fraudsters when police, acting on a tip off, swooped on them at 53, J.S. Tarka Way, Makurdi where they were allegedly training their victims.

Ezeala said the victims, no fewer than 60, who were men and women, were seen standing on parade while the suspects were in their off-brown colour uniform sewn in paramilitary style.

The police spokesman disclosed that the fraudsters and others took to their heels on sighting the policemen, who pursued and arrested them, adding that it was later discovered on interrogation that each of the victims paid N9, 000 for the recruitment.

He stated further that immediate search conducted on the suspects led to the recovery of items including one pair of paramilitary boot, one pair of shoes, five belts as well as forged recruitment forms of the purported paramilitary outfit with photocopies of the victims’ credentials and passports.

The PPRO alleged that the suspects on interrogation confessed to the offence, adding that the Commissioner of Police in the state, Adams Audu had called on the general public to beware of the nefarious activities of the fraudsters.

In another development, police in Otukpo, Benue State had arrested no fewer than 50 suspected cultists. The Otukpo vigilance group arrested them at different locations on Sunday night.

Addressing the suspects, the chairman of the local government council, Dr. Innocent Onuh, expressed disappointment over their involvement in the criminal act despite efforts by security agencies to rid the state of such nefarious acts.

Onuh, who warned that the council would not condone cultism, armed robbery or any other criminal act, reiterated his determination to ensure total security of the area, stressing that the suspects would be thoroughly investigated and those found guilty would be taken to Makurdi, the state capital for further action.

Earlier, the Otukpo Divisional Police Officer (DPO), Francis Obinwa, while advising people to refrain from any action that could pose security challenges, said some of the suspects would be released as soon as their parents write undertaking for them.

Obinwa who commended the cooperation between the vigilance group and the police thanked the council chairman for providing logistics for the police and the vigilante to carry out their duties.

Also speaking, leader of the vigilance group, Mr. Peter Idah, reportedly dispelled rumour that they arrest people as from 7pm, insisting that their late hour, during which people could not explain their movement, remained 10pm.