The Economic and Financial Crimes Commission, EFCC, on Wednesday, December 10, 2014 arraigned one Michael Ogun popularly known as Idris Suleiman, before Justice Olubukola A. Adeniyi of the Federal Capital Territory High Court Apo, Abuja, for offences bordering on forgery.
The accused was alleged to have extorted money from members of the public on the pretence of offering them employment into the Nigerian Security Civil Defence Corps, NSCDC, and other paramilitary agencies.
He is also being investigated in a suspected case of money laundering.
The accused pleaded not guilty to the 6-count charge preferred against him by the EFCC.
Count one reads: “that you Michael Ogun a.k.a Idris Suleiman sometime in March 2014 in Abuja Judicial Division of the High Court of the Federal Capital Territory with intent to defraud did obtain the sum of eight thousand five hundred naira (N8,500.00) from one Angela Chinwe Okeke through Access Bank account number: 0064938358 belonging to Idris Suleiman when you falsely represented yourself as capable of providing her with a job at the Nigerian Security and Civil Defence Corps, which pretence you knew to be false and thereby committed an offence contrary to Section1(1)(b) of the Advance Fee Fraud and Other Fraud Related Offences Act, 2006 and punishable under Section1(3) of the same Act”.
Based on the plea of the accused person, counsel to EFCC, Yetunde Alabi asked the court to fix a date for trial to commence.
However, counsel to the first accused, S.I Imoke urged the court to admit his client to bail. He stated that the accused person was ready to face trial and would not do anything to frustrate it.
Justice Adeniyi granted the accused bail in the sum of N2million (two million naira) and two sureties in like sum.
The case has been adjourned to February 18, 2015 for trial.
In a related development, an official of the Katsina State Command of the Nigerian Prison Service, Sani Usman Danbulbuli was on Tuesday December 9 arraigned by the EFCC before Justice Rilwanu Mohammed Aikawa of the Federal High Court Sitting in Sokoto, on a 5-count charge bordering on employment fraud and obtaining by false pretence.
The accused sometime in 2011 met one Usman Sani isah at Abuja and promised to help secure employment for him with the Nigerian Customs Service. Thereafter he collected various sums of money amounting to N400,000.00 (four hundred thousand Naira) which he claimed will be used to purchase Customs Training Kits and Uniforms.
But the employment neither materialise nor was he willing to refund the money collected from the victim.
The accused person pleaded not guilty to all the charges.
Justice Aikawa however granted him bail in the sum of N500,000.00 and a surety in like sum who must be a civil servant not below grade level 8.
The case is adjourned to December 16, 2014 for trial.
Wilson Uwujaren
Head, Media & Publicity
