Posted by JIDE BAKARE, Ilorin on
AN official of Federal Road Safety Commission (FRSC) in Kogi State (name withheld), who allegedly swindled N773,000 (N.7m) from desperate job seekers has been nabbed by police.....
AN official of Federal Road Safety Commission (FRSC) in Kogi State (name withheld), who allegedly swindled N773,000 (N.7m) from desperate job seekers has been nabbed by police.
Zonal Commander of FRSC for Kogi, Kwara and Ekiti sector, Commander Olu Fadogba disclosed this yesterday at the commission's zonal headquarters in Ilorin, Kwara State capital.
Fadogba said the suspect allegedly forged his signature to offer fake employments in FRSC after collecting between N60,000 and N30,000 from unsuspecting victims in April and June this year.
He further alleged that the affected officer, who is a Marshall, could be part of a syndicate that issued fake FRSC letters of appointment with an equally forged director's name to his victims after collecting various sums of money.
Fadogba also said the affected officer went ahead to deploy his victims to the eight formations of FRSC nationwide.
According to the Zonal Commander, the scam was uncovered last Wednesday (July 12, 2006) when three of the victims came to Lokoja office of the commission with their lawyer and a letter demanding the refund of their money since they were not given jobs.
"The irony of it all is that the letter was addressed to the officer but he was not in the office premises at the time the aggrieved parties came to look for him.
"The sector commander of the Lokoja office of the commission, who immediately suspected a foul play asked the aggrieved parties to wait in his office and called the suspect in to meet his "visitors", and from there, the bubble burst, following which he was apprehended," he said.
A search warrant was later ordered into the residence of the suspect after which he was handed over to the police for interrogation.
According to Fadogba, on conclusion of police interrogation, the accused would still face an FRSC Disciplinary Court where he would be allowed to defend himself with his own lawyer.
"If found guilty, he will be dismissed and handed back to the police for further prosecution'', the Zonal Commander said.
Among items allegedly found at the suspect's residence were original copies of the forged provisional letters of appointment, original copies of the forged Marshals ‘ deployment format which the unsuspecting victims were expected to present at the sector commands where he supposedly "posted'' them, and some copies of forged Marshal's clearance.
Other items found were, duly completed application forms with passport photographs of the complainants, a First Bank of Nigeria Plc., Lokoja branch, cheque booklet belonging to the accused, and his telephone handset.
Fadogba lamented that the most unfortunate thing in the matter was that some of the victims had to sell properties to get money to pay the accused with the belief that their employment with FRSC was a reality.
The Zonal Commander warned members of the public to be wary of any sale of FRSC forms saying the commission would announce its recruitment at the appropriate time and not through Employment forms. He said the commission would not engage the services of any agent for the exercise.
"Whenever recruitment would be carried out, the FRSC as a federal outfit will do it based on the federal
character as laid down by the country's laws and the public would be informed whenever the forms are out,'" Fadogba explained.