Crime
Court Sentences Police, Immigration Officers To 7 Years For N1.6m Employment Fraud
Bature and Philip faced two counts of charges, while Mohammed was charged with one count.
Gombe State — The Federal High Court in Gombe State, presided over by Justice T.G. Ringin, has convicted and sentenced two police officers and an Immigration officer to seven years imprisonment each for involvement in an employment fraud scheme worth N1.6 million.
The convicts, Yusuf AbdulKarim Bature and Musa Philip, both police officers, and Nasiru Mohammed, an Immigration officer, was found guilty of obtaining money under false pretenses.
Bature and Philip faced two counts of charges, while Mohammed was charged with one count.
They were arraigned by the Gombe Zonal Directorate of the Economic and Financial Crimes Commission (EFCC) for defrauding unsuspecting victims by falsely promising them employment opportunities.
The EFCC revealed that the officers collected a total of N1,640,000 from their victims under the guise of securing them jobs in government agencies.
Count one of the charges against Yusuf AbdulKarim Bature and Musa Philip reads: “That you Yusuf Abdul karim Bature and Musa Philip while being public officers with the Nigerian Police Force sometime in 2022 in Gombe within the Gombe Judicial division at the Federal High Court of Justice did with intent to defraud falsely obtained from one Asabe Hamed the total sum of Nine Hundred and Seventy Thousand Naira for the purpose of securing a job, a claim you knew to be false”.
The charge against Nasiru Mohammed reads: “that you Nasiru Mohammed sometime in 2022 in Gombe within the jurisdiction of this honourable court while being a staff of the Nigerian Immigration Service did falsely obtained the sum of Six Hundred and Seventy Thousand naira (N670,000) from Abdul Rahman Abubakar and Akwalo Adamu under the false pretence of securing them a job with the Nigerian Immigration Service which you knew to be false and thereby committed an offence contrary to Section 1(1)(a) of the Advance Fee Fraud and Other Fraud Related Offences Act 2006 and punishable under Section 1(3) of the same Act” Upon arraignment the defendants pleaded guilty to their respective charges.
In view of their guilty pleas, prosecution counsel Tortema Joshua prayed the court to convict and sentence the defendants accordingly but counsels to the defendants, Babangida Mohammed and K.K. Jomoh pleaded with the court to temper justice with mercy as the defendants were first -time offenders who are remorseful of their actions.
Justice Ringing thereafter convicted and sentenced Bature, Philip and Mohammed to seven years imprisonment each or a fine of N50,000 (Fifty Thousand Naira) each.
In addition, the judge ordered the convicts to pay restitution of N1,640,000 to the petitioners and sign an undertaking to be of good behaviour henceforth.
The convicts’ journey to the Correctional Centre began sometime in February 8, 2024 when some petitioners alleged that Bature and Philip collected N970,000 while Mohammed collected N670,000 as payment for employment slots.
The convicts neither offered the petitioners the jobs nor returned their money to them.
