A salesgirl, Sarah Ogbonna, has been arrested over the alleged theft of over N29 million worth of items from a phone shop owned by her employer, and for using the proceeds to rent and furnish an apartment for her boyfriend, Samuel Abiodun Bello, at Sauka-Kauta, Minna, Niger State.

The state police command, in a statement on Monday, said the 23-year-old also transferred some of the illegally obtained funds to her boyfriend, who is now at large, while using part of the money to make weekly contributions to an online financial group and also to meet other family needs.

Spokesperson for the command, Wasiu Abiodun, in the statement said, “On 8th August, 2025, at about 12 p.m., a report was received at ‘A’ Div Minna from a shop owner at Obasanjo Complex, Minna, who deals in phone business.”

Mr Wasiu also stated that, “The report indicated that his salesgirl, one Sarah Ogbonna, 23 years of Okada Road, Minna, was suspected to have been stealing items/phones from his shop entrusted to her. He alleged that she had stolen items worth over twenty-nine million naira from the shop.”

According to the command, the statement made by the arrested suspect, who had been an employee at the shop since 2023, aided the arrest of her sister Mercy Ogbonna, 23-year-old Ruth Omor Emmanuel, and 32-year-old Nurudeen Musa on August 9.

“Further investigation revealed that Sarah made multiple transfers of money to her senior sister, Mercy Ogbonna, who sorts out family challenges on her behalf, such as payment of house rents, purchase of food items and other needs for the families.

“Ruth Emmanuel was also a salesgirl in the shop, and she allegedly participated in some of the acts before she left, while Nurudeen Musa usually collects expensive phones from Sarah and sells the phones at giveaway prices, rendering short payments for a long period of time,” Mr Abiodun stated.

He said two power generators, a smart TV, a freezer, four wigs valued at five hundred thousand naira each, a gas cylinder, shoes, canvas, bags, clothes, house furniture, and other items were recovered from Ms Ogbonna, adding that all arrested suspects are still under investigation.