The Niger State Police Command has apprehended two suspects, Muhammad Mohammed and Mohammed Usman, for their alleged involvement in an assassination plot.

The duo were nabbed by the police on their way to Butu village of Bosso LGA to collect the sum of N100,000 from one Dogo, who allegedly contracted them to carry out the assassination.

The Police Command in a statement issued by the Public Relations Officer, SP Wasiu Abiodun, in Minna, said the two were intercepted on August 23, 2025.

Abiodun said the suspects reportedly confessed to being hired by the said Dogo to kill a man who married his ex-wife.

The police spokesman said, “On 23/8/2025 at about 12:45 am, police patrol team with vigilante members stationed at Railway Crossing, Beji, Maikunkele area of Bosso LGA, intercepted two persons, namely Muhammad Mohammed, 40, and Mohammed Usman 35, both of Beji.

“During interrogation both suspects confessed that they were hired by one Dogo of Beji to assassinate a person around railway crossing area in the area, and they were on their way to collect the service charge of N100,000 from Dogo before being arrested.”

The police spokesman explained that the suspects further claimed that Dogo initially gave them the sum of N13,000 as transport fee, while they charged him N100, 000 for the ‘job’.

Abiodun further disclosed that the suspects insisted that they would collect the money before carrying out the task.

“Preliminary investigation revealed that Dogo intended to kill the fellow because he married his ex-wife,” the police further disclosed.

Items recovered from them include a locally made pistol and live ammunition.

The suspects were taken into police custody in Maikunkele Division for preliminary investigation and were later transferred to SCID for discreet investigation and prosecution.

Meanwhile, efforts to apprehend the said Dogo, the alleged mastermind, have intensified.

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The Minister of Interior, Olubunmi Tunji-Ojo, has revealed how an Ugandan woman was arrested at the Lagos Airport after paying $1,000 to illegally obtain a Nigerian International passport.

The minister, who disclosed this on Thursday while speaking at the Ministry of Interior’s mid-tenure performance retreat in Abuja, said the incident highlighted the extent of abuse that plagued Nigeria’s passport issuance process before the ongoing reforms.

“A Ugandan woman carrying a Nigerian passport was arrested at Lagos Airport after paying $1,000 to procure it,” he stated.

“That cannot continue. Our passport must remain a true symbol of Nigerian identity.”

He said the fraudulent practice was enabled by weak oversight, decentralised approvals, and a long-standing culture of corruption within the system.

“There was a time when some Passport Control Officers (PCOs) had so much power, they could delay or withhold approvals until they were ‘settled’. That abuse of power ends now,” he declared.

Tunji-Ojo said the federal government had now taken decisive action to overhaul the system, including the removal of passport approval powers from PCOs and the centralisation of the process to curb human interference.

The minister’s comments came as the Federal Government announced a new upward review of passport fees starting September 1, 2025, increasing the cost of the 32-page, five-year validity passport to N100,000, and the 64-page, 10-year passport to N200,000 for applications made within Nigeria.

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A 40-year-old Nigerian man, Daniel Chima Inweregbu, has pleaded guilty to years-long well orchestrated romance scam that swindled multiple United State citizens of over $400,000.

Acting U.S. Attorney Michael M. Simpson announced this in a press statement issued by the Justice Department on Friday, August 29, 2025.

According to the statement, Inweregbu pled guilty on August 21, 2025 before United States District Judge Nanette Jolivette Brown to two of the counts pending against him, including conspiracy to commit mail fraud, wire fraud, and using an assumed name to commit a mail fraud scheme, in violation of Title 18, United States Code, Sections 1341, 1342, 1343 and 1349 (Count 1), and conspiracy to commit money laundering, in violation of Title 18, United States Code, in violation of Title 18, United States Code, Sections 1956(a)(1)(B)(i), 1957, and 1956(h) (Count 12).

Inweregbu’s plea stemmed from his role in a lengthy romance scam targeting American citizens.

According to court documents, a “romance scam” was a confidence scheme in which the perpetrator feigned romantic intentions towards a victim, gained their affection, and used the victim’s goodwill to commit fraud. These fraudulent acts might involve such acts as obtaining access to the victim’s money, bank accounts, credit cards, passports, e-mail accounts, or national identification numbers; convincing the victim to transmit things of value to the perpetrator or his witting or unwitting co-conspirators; or inducing the victim to, unintentionally, commit or participate in the commission of financial fraud against third parties on behalf of the perpetrator.

Between at least July 1, 2017, and December 16, 2018, Inweregbu and his co-conspirators, devised and operated a “romance scam” whereby they sought to obtain money and property from multiple American women, including 4 victims, by means of false and fraudulent representations and promises.

Specifically, Inweregbu and his co-conspirators created profiles on social media and online dating sites using the alias “Larry Pham,” purportedly a middle-aged male, to attract middle-aged female victims.

The co-conspirators, including Inweregbu used online messaging platforms and email, to contact victims, introduce themselves, and appeal to victims’ longing for companionship.

If the victim responded favorably, Inweregbu and his co-conspirators began to cultivate a romantic relationship that emotionally attached the victims to “Larry Pham.”

Once the relationship was established, the defendant and his co-conspirators, posing as Larry Pham, requested victims send them money under various scams and ruses to domestic bank accounts they opened and managed.

Inweregbu’s scheme resulted in actual and intended losses to the victims of over $405,000.

Thereafter, Inweregbu and his co-conspirators laundered the funds, by conducting financial transactions using the proceeds of their wire and mail fraud scheme, designed in whole or in part to conceal and disguise the nature, location, source, ownership, and control of the proceeds, by directing the victims’ funds through intermediaries.

Inweregbu faces up to twenty years in prison, up to three years of supervised release, and up to a fine of $250,000 as to Count 1. He faces up to twenty years in prison, up to three years of supervised release, and up to a fine of $500,000 as to Count 12.

He also faces payment of a $100 mandatory special assessment fee per count. Sentencing before Judge Brown has been scheduled for December 4, 2025.

Acting U.S. Attorney Simpson praised the work of the Federal Bureau of Investigation in investigating this matter and expressed appreciation for the great support provided by United States Department of Justice Office of International Affairs and the United States Department of State.

Assistant United States Attorney Jordan Ginsberg, Chief of the Public Integrity Unit, is in charge of the prosecution.

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