Posted by Francis Falola, Minna on
The police in Niger State have detained six persons for allegedly duping the state governor, Alhaji Abdulkadir Kure of N9.5 million.
The police in Niger State have detained six persons for allegedly duping the state governor, Alhaji Abdulkadir Kure of N9.5 million.
The suspected con men were said to have been involved in the fraudulent purchase of a consignment of groundnut oil penultimate Friday from Abu Thurab Farms, an agricultural firm owned by Kure.
According to a source close to the governor, some persons visited the farm, located in Chanchangi area of the state capital, Minna, on the said day to request for the supply of a consignment of groundnut oil worth N9.5 million.
Incidentally, the governor was on the farm at the time on a mission that Saturday Punch could not ascertain.
Their leader, whom the source described as a middle-aged man, was said to have introduced himself to the manager of the farm as Azeez, the son of a governor in the South-West.
They allegedly paid for the consignment with a bank draft and pleaded with the manager to assist them with a trailer to convey the goods to a destination in the South-West because they did not come with any.
The request was passed to the governor who in turn instructed his workers to provide the customers with a trailer, according to the source.
'All the while, the governor thought the assistance was being rendered to a son of one of his colleagues. He never had any doubt about the claim made by the con men since the South-West governor whom the con men referred to also has a farm where similar products are being produced. We thought they probably needed it to enable them meet up with a supply they intended to sell to a buyer," the source stated.
Our correspondent gathered that the trailer moved the consignment out of the farm on the said day, and when it got to Ogere area of Ogun State, along Lagos-Ibadan Expressway, the con men ordered the driver to stop because they wanted to transfer the goods into another truck, for onward delivery to Lagos.
When the con men got to Lagos, they reportedly sold the goods to one Jona, a groundnut oil merchant.
The source also said that after the con men left, Kure called his South-West colleague to enquire whether he had a son bearing the name given by the con men's leader.
His South-West colleague confirmed that he indeed had a son by that name but that the boy was schooling abroad.
Even while Kure was trying to get over the shock, he learnt that the draft was forged.
His employees swiftly alerted the police, who moved to arrest the driver of the trailer that conveyed the goods from the farm. The driver was said to have informed the police that the goods were transferred at Ogere but that he took note of the second trailer's number plate while the trans-loading was going on.
It was on the strength of this tip that the police were able to arrest five other persons from various locations as well as the trailers and transferred them to the State Criminal Investigation Department of the Niger State Police Command.
Among those being detained are the drivers of the two trailers as well as a middle-aged woman who was found on the premises of one of the suspects.
During interrogation, some of the suspects reportedly revealed that an unnamed man, who is now being sought by the police, produced the draft.
Confirming the development, the state Commissioner of Police, Mr. Ernest Ibhaze, told our correspondent on Thursday that none of the goods was recovered, but he assured that investigation was in progress.
Ibhaze disclosed that all the accused, including the man who forged the bank draft used in paying for the order, had been arrested by the police.
According to him, 'We are still carrying on with our investigation as regards the issue and after completing our investigation, the accused will be handed to the appropriate quarter for further necessary action."
SATURDAY PUNCH, July 30, 2005