Court jails police, immigration officers for N1.6m employment fraud
A Federal High Court in Gombe has convicted and sentenced three officers — Yusuf AbdulKarim Bature and Musa Philip of the Nigerian Police Force, alongside Nasiru Mohammed of the Nigerian Immigration Service — to seven years imprisonment each for perpetrating an employment fraud scheme involving ₦1,640,000.
The Gombe Zonal Directorate of the Economic and Financial Crimes Commission (EFCC) arraigned the officers on charges of obtaining money under false pretences. Bature and Philip faced two counts, while Mohammed faced one count.
Bature and Philip, under the guise of providing job opportunities, collected ₦970,000 from a victim, Asabe Hamed.
Mohammed similarly duped Abdul Rahman Abubakar and Akwalo Adamu of ₦670,000, promising them employment in the Immigration Service. Investigations revealed that the defendants had no intention or capacity to deliver on these promises, nor did they return the money.
One of the charges against Bature and Philip stated:
“That you, Yusuf AbdulKarim Bature and Musa Philip, while being public officers with the Nigerian Police Force, sometime in 2022 in Gombe within the Gombe Judicial division of the Federal High Court of Justice, did with intent to defraud falsely obtain the sum of Nine Hundred and Seventy Thousand Naira from one Asabe Hamed under the pretext of securing a job, a claim you knew to be false.”
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Similarly, the charge against Mohammed read:
“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, falsely obtained the sum of Six Hundred and Seventy Thousand Naira from Abdul Rahman Abubakar and Akwalo Adamu under the false pretence of securing them jobs with the Nigerian Immigration Service, which you knew to be false, thereby committing 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.”
The defendants pleaded guilty to the charges upon arraignment. Prosecution counsel Tortema Joshua urged the court to convict and sentence them appropriately. However, defence counsels Babangida Mohammed and K.K. Jomoh appealed for leniency, describing the defendants as first-time offenders who were remorseful.
Delivering the judgment, Justice T.G. Ringim sentenced each defendant to seven years imprisonment or a fine of ₦50,000. Additionally, the court ordered full restitution of ₦1,640,000 to the victims and directed the convicts to sign undertakings pledging good behaviour moving forward.
This case serves as a stark warning against fraudulent practices, particularly within public institutions. It highlights the judiciary’s resolve to hold public officials accountable and ensure justice for victims of fraud.
The EFCC continues to encourage citizens to report fraudulent activities, particularly those involving public office holders, to curb the scourge of corruption in Nigeria.
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