EFCC arraigns Ex-Convicts, Bulama Jibrin and Allen Abel In Maiduguri for N12.8m Fraud

On Tuesday, June 27, 2023, Bulama Yahaya Jibrin (also known as Bulama Ayya) was presented before Justice Aisha Kumaliya of the Borno State High Court in Maiduguri by the Maiduguri Zonal Command of the Economic and Financial Crimes Commission (EFCC).

Jibrin faced an amended charge for obtaining the sum of N5,400,000 (Five Million, Four Hundred Thousand Naira) through false pretences.

According to the charge, Jibrin was accused of defrauding Ibrahim Musa Abdulhamid by claiming that the money was payment for the purchase of a plot of land measuring 100 by 100 and an unfinished house, knowing fully well that the claim was false. The offence contravened Section 1 (1) of the Advance Fee Fraud and Other Fraud Related Offences Act, 2006, and was punishable under Section 1 (3) of the same Act.

Jibrin pleaded ‘not guilty’ to the charge, prompting the prosecution counsel, S.O. Saka, to request a trial date and the defendant’s remand in prison custody. Subsequently, Justice Kumaliya adjourned the case until July 26, 2023, for the commencement of the trial and ordered that the defendant be remanded in prison custody.

In a related development, the Maiduguri Zonal Command of the EFCC also brought Allen Abel before Justice Kumaliya, facing a three-count charge involving obtaining money through false pretences, forgery, and the use of false documents. The amount in question was N7,480,000 (Seven Million, Four Hundred and Eighty Thousand Naira).

Count one of the charges stated that Abel, in Maiduguri in the year 2020, induced Dauda Iliya to deliver 50kg each of 400 bags of sugar worth N7,480,000 under the false pretence of executing a supply contract for the Federal Ministry of Humanitarian Affairs, Disaster Management, and Social Development. Abel pleaded ‘not guilty’ to the charge.

The prosecuting counsel, S.O. Saka, requested a trial date and the remand of the defendant in prison custody. Justice Kumaliya subsequently scheduled the trial to commence on August 21, 2023, and ordered the defendant to be remanded in prison custody.

Source: EFCC Nigeria