Nigerian Security and Civil Defence Corps, NSCDC, Borno State command, has arrested Mallam Bukar Ladan for allegedly defrauding Internally Displaced Persons, IDPs, by selling fake relief material forms to them to the tune of N27 million.
Parading the suspect (aged 50) at NSCDC headquarters in Maiduguri, Commandant of the corps, Alhaji Abdullahi Ibrahim, said the suspect was arrested while selling fake relief material forms to the IDPs in some camps in Maiduguri.
He said, “The suspect has sold 9,000 forms to the IDPs in some camps in Maiduguri at a cost of N300 each, promising they would be provided with special relief materials from Abuja.”
The commandant further stated that the suspect with some of his collaborators, who are now on the run engaged the services of some agents in the camps, thereby deceiving the IDPs that special relief materials would be brought to them from Abuja after filling the forms with their passports attached.
“Our men found out that some of the women in the IDPs camp were grumbling that they had paid their monies but no food was supplied them as promised.
“It is very unfortunate that some people will go to this length and defraud this people who have suffered great trauma in the hands of terrorists,” the commandant stated.
He said the suspect would be thoroughly interrogated before being handed over to appropriate authorities for prosecution, and advised the public, especially those living in the IDPs’ camps to be vigilant and report any suspicious persons to security agencies.
Speaking to journalists, the suspected Alhaji Ladan confessed to committing the act, saying that he never knew that the form was not for sale but to be given freely to IDPs in order to obtain the relief materials from Abuja, adding that the person who supplied them with the forms is now at large.
In a related development, the NSCDC, on a tip off, has also arrested a fake currency counterfeiter who was trying to buy some goods worth N500,000 with N1,000 denominations notes in a shop; he is currently under interrogation.
The commandant called on the general public to be very vigilant, as the fake N1,000 notes are rampant in circulation.
“The fraudsters try as much as they can to avoid shop owners, only to go behind them and deceive their boys, as most of them cannot differentiate between the genuine notes and fake ones,” the commandant explained.
He said the role of the NSCDC is to protect critical infrastructure against vandals, diversion of petroleum products, prevention of homicides, rape and intelligent sharing with other security agencies.
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