Court jails police, immigration officers for seven years over employment fraud

A federal high court in Gombe has sentenced two police officers and an immigration operative to seven years in prison over N1.6 million employment fraud.

The Economic and Financial Crimes Commission (EFCC) arraigned Yusuf Abdulkarim Bature and Musa Philip—the police officers—on a two-count charge of obtaining by false pretences and intent to defraud, and Nasiru Mohammed—the immigration personnel—on a one-count charge of obtaining by false pretences.

“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 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 sheet 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.”

The three defendants pleaded guilty to the charges.

THE JUDGMENT

After the guilty pleas, Tortema Joshua, the prosecution counsel, asked the court to convict and sentence the defendants in line with the law.

Babangida Mohammed and K.K. Jomoh, counsels to the three defendants, pleaded with the court to temper justice with mercy.

In his judgment, T.G. Ringing, the presiding judge, convicted and sentenced Bature, Philip, and Mohammed to seven years imprisonment apiece or a fine of N50,000 each.

The judge ordered the defendants to pay restitution of N1,640,000 to the petitioners and sign an undertaking to be of good behaviour.