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Troops Arrest Man For Diversion Of Farm Machinery In Yobe
The owner of the items had no letter of authority for issue of the items to him or anyone else.
Damaturu, Yobe State– Troops from the Forward Operations Base have arrested a 43-year-old man for allegedly diverting agricultural equipment.
The suspect was found in possession of 19 seed-planting machines, which had been distributed for free to farmers under the state government’s Agriculture Empowerment Programme.
In a statement released on Tuesday, retired Brigadier General Dahiru Abdulsalam, Special Adviser to Governor Mai Mala Buni on Security Matters, said that the man was arrested at about 12:10 a.m.
He added that the suspect was found with equipment concealed in a bus traveling from Potiskum to Gombe Road.
The statement read, “Today, at about 00:10 AM, troops of FOB Potiskum arrested a man in possession of 19 seed planters.
“The items which are suspected to have been issued for the Yobe State Agricultural Empowerment Programme were concealed in a blue coloured 18-seater bus with Registration No: KTG 449 YG.”
According to him, the suspect could not provide any proof to show that he was a beneficiary of the programme.
“ The owner of the items had no letter of authority for issue of the items to him or anyone else.
“ The suspect who hails from Jigawa State claimed that he bought the items from one Alhaji Babaji with phone number 08032837370 in Damaturu at the rate of N50,000.00 each.
“ He stated that he was conveying the items to resell in Dutse, Jigawa,” he said.
The retired Brigadier General said the suspect and the recovered items would be handed over to the Nigeria Security and Civil Defence Corps for prosecution.
News Agency of Nigeria reports that Buni has instructed security agents to arrest anyone caught transporting the equipment out of the state.