Abdulrazaq Mungadi, Gombe
Gombe State High Court has convicted and sentenced an official of Nigeria Security and Civil Defense Corps (NSCDC) following his arraignment by Gombe Zonal office of the Economic and Financial Crimes Commission (EFCC) on crime bordering around cheating.
The officer simply identified as Zubairu Baba Ali who was attached to Area B, Potiskum of Yobe State Command was brought before Justice A.J Awak of the High Court on one count which was contrary to Section 320 and punishable under Section 322 of the Penal Code Law of Northern Nigeria.
According to the charge filed by EFCC the convict acting as an official of NSCDC sometimes in 2017 collected N300, 000 from one Muhammed Bashir Muhammad of Federal Low-cost in Gombe and that the funds were for him secure NSCDC job for his victim.
EFCC explained that the victim (Muhammed) sent the said amount to an account number in one of the new generation Banks as agreed and that officer kept giving him excuses whenever he called to inquire about the job.
“Though, the convict used third party’s account number as Iliyasu Yakubu Amana to collect the money, but EFCC Operatives when analyzing the entire scam was able to prove that the nominal complainant deposited the money in question on 11th September 2017. The outflow of the account also shows the withdrawal of N220, 000 cash and the remaining balance was transferred to the convict’s account domiciled in Keystone Bank,” EFCC stated in the case file numbered CR/192/2019.
EFCC further revealed that when invited for questioning Iliyasu confessed to giving the money to the convict a claim that was not objected by the convict. The anti-graft agency disclosed that the funds were recovered during the investigation.
Zubairu who was arraigned before Justice Awak on Wednesday pleaded guilty to the charge read against him and was pronounced guilty as charged and sentenced to 3-years imprisonment or an option of N50, 000 fine.