A man, who specialises in robbing people of their Automated Teller Machine [ATM] cards and emptying their accounts, has been arrested by the Lagos State Police Command.

The 33-year-old suspect, one Olawale Aderibigbe, on Wednesday, told the police that what he needed was the security code of ATM card to withdraw all the money in a victim’s account.

The suspect was arrested by detectives at Surulere area of the metropolis after much surveillance.

Aderibigbe, a suspected fraudster cum robber, used to rob people of their ATM cards, which he later used to withdraw money.

It was learnt that the Intelligence Unit of the command had been on the trail of the suspect for a long time before he was arrested on February 18 at his hideout.

The state Commissioner of Police, Zubairu Muazu, told journalists yesterday at the command headquarters, Ikeja, that the suspect belonged to a syndicate which specialised in robbing people of their ATM cards.

He said:

“The suspect confessed during interrogation that he and his partners had stolen money from many peoples’ accounts through ATM cards, which they stole from people at gunpoint. We are working assiduously to track down other members of the gang and brought them to book.”

Aderibigbe told journalists that he could withdraw money, using any ATM card, as long as the card had a security code.

He said:

“The security code is what I need. I have the software. If I insert the security code, details of the person would come out and the amount the person has in the account. My colleagues and I have made money through this.”

Recalling how he was arrested, Aderibigbe explained that he was at home on that fateful, when he received a call from a friend.

“My friend called me that he had another ATM card. I was going there when police arrested me,” he added.

Muazu disclosed that the command was making concerted efforts to arrest other fleeing members of the syndicate.