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Police College: Court frees 24 men charged with forging documents for admission

Published

10 months ago

January 22, 2024

Police College: Court frees 24 men charged with forging documents for admission

A Federal High Court in Abuja has discharged and acquitted 24 men, accused of falsifying documents and their identifies to gain admission into the Nigeria Police College, Maiduguri, Borno State.

Justice Inyang Ekwo, in a ruling held that the prosecution failed to lead credible evidence to establish its case against the defendants.

Justice Ekwo further held that, not only was investigation poorly conducted in the case, the Investigating Police Officer (IPO) did a shoddy job and the prosecution failed present vital oral and documentary evidence.

The ruling, delivered on January 16, a copy of which was seen on Sunday, was on the no-case submissions made by the defendants in a charge marked: FHC/ABJ/CR/206/2020 filed in the name of the Inspector General of Police (IGP).

The 24 defendants were arrested and charged following a petition, dated May 22, 2020 from the Secretary to the Government of Kano State, signed by a Permanent Secretary, Yahaya Bichi.

The petitioner claimed that Kano State was unjustly treated by the Nigeria Police College, Maiduguri in its 2018/2019 recruitment and training exercise, during which the state’s indigenes were replaced by indigenes of other states, who upon graduation, were posted to Kano State.

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The defendants were, in the 106-count charge on which they were tried, accused of submitting forged documents, impersonating other person’s and giving false information about their identities to obtain admission into the collage.

At the trial, the prosecution called 10 witnesses, including the IPO, who testified as the 10th prosecution witness (PW10), following which the defendants made no-case submissions.

In the ruling, Justice Ekwo found that the evidence led by the prosecution revealed that it was actually some officials of the police college who manipulated the recruitment process and replaced qualified Kano indigenes with the defendants.

The judge noted: “Investigation over the matter was carried out and it was discovered that some serving members of the Nigeria Police Force ,serving in Police College, Maiduguri assisted the suspects (defendants) to gain admission into the Nigeria Police and they passed through the recruitment and were issued with complete Police uniform and were posted as Police officers during the exercise.

“During the investigation, the 24 suspects (defendants) were in possession of police properties which include, complete kits which were returned and registered as exhibits against the suspects.”

The judge also noted that investigation revealed that the successful candidates from Kano, who were supposed to be among the trainees, were replaced by one of the admin officer and recruitment officer, DSP. Illya Kwarji.

Justice Ekwo also found that the admin/recruitment officer, on realising that the the 27 successful Kano candidates were absent during the screening exercise, replaced them with the defendants, without using thew real names.

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Justice Ekwo added: “The evidence of PW10 is simple to understand. It is the admin officer, who was also the recruitment officer, that replaced people with his own interested candidates, who are these defendants before this court by replacing the names of those successful candidates from Kano without using their real names.

“This is the person who changed the names of candidates. The defendants did not, on their own, falsely personate any person. It was the said admin officer, who was also the recruitment officer that did everything,” he said.

The judge observed that the effect of cross examination on the evidence adduced in the case by the prosecution, “revealed that there is no eye witness account in this matter,” a development he said, was fatal to the prosecution’s case.

“On the whole, I have weighed the evidence of the prosecution on the statutory parameters on the point of no-case submission as follow: Whether there is no evidence to prove an essential element of the alleged offence? Whether the evidence has been so discredited as result of cross examination? Whether the evidence is manifestly unreliable that no reasonable tribunal or court can safely convict on it?”

The judge said after considering all the evidence led by the prosecution, he found that there was no evidence to prove the essential elements of the alleged offences.

He then proceeded to discharge and acquitted the defendants

The freed defendants are Satmak Tapji Jonathan, Peter Philibus, Pwasagi Charles Power, Nadare Garba, Bamaiyi Ishaya, Geoffrey Markus Moses, Muhammad Musa Birma, Jamilu Muhammad and Mamman Dauda.

Also freed are Alpheus Jacob, Bulusi Inuwa, Umaru Hyeimoda Micheal, Callus James, Dahiru Mohammed, Yusuf James, Wapada Yusuf, Usman Adamu and Umar Ali.

Others are Jacob Sebastine, Usman Abubakar, Mohammed Modu, Ibrahim Yakubu, Kwada A. kijah and Philip John.

Police College: Court frees 24 men charged with forging documents for admission

Related Topics:forging documents Police College

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BREAKING: FEC proposes N47.9 trillion budget for 2025 fiscal year

Published

6 hours ago

November 14, 2024

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BREAKING: FEC proposes N47.9 trillion budget for 2025 fiscal year

The federal government has unveiled a proposed budget of N47.9 trillion for the 2025 fiscal year.

Atiku Bagudu, Minister of Budget and Economic Planning, disclosed this to journalists on Thursday following the Federal Executive Council (FEC) meeting chaired by President Bola Tinubu.

Bagudu revealed that the council had approved the Medium-Term Expenditure Framework (MTEF) for 2025-2027.

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According to the minister, the government has pegged the crude oil benchmark at $75 per barrel, with an oil production target of 2.06 million barrels per day (bpd).

The budget also sets the exchange rate at N1,400 per dollar and aims for a gross domestic product (GDP) growth rate of 6.4%.

BREAKING: FEC proposes N47.9 trillion budget for 2025 fiscal year

metro

EFCC arrests ex-NCMB boss over $35m energy project fraud

Published

6 hours ago

November 14, 2024

Trends Admin

EFCC arrests ex-NCMB boss over $35m energy project fraud

The Economic and Financial Crimes Commission (EFCC) told FIJ that they have arrested Timber Wabote, the former executive secretary of the Nigerian Content Development and Monitoring Board (NCMB), on the grounds of a failed $35 million Bayelsa refinery project fraud.

Dele Oyewale, the EFCC’s spokesperson, confirmed this to FIJ on Thursday.

“It is true,” Oyewale responded to FIJ’s inquiries.

Wabote is accused of misappropriating public funds for a refinery project that should have improved local energy production.

Vanguard reported that the NCDMB under Wabote paid $35 million to support the development of energy infrastructure in the Brass Local Government Area of Bayelsa, yet there was nothing to show for it.

The EFCC picked Wabote up following the arrest of Akintoye Adeoye Akindele, the Managing Director of Atlantic International Refinery and Petrochemical Limited, for alleged misappropriation, money laundering and diversion of $35 million in public funds.

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“NCDMB under the watch of Wabote allegedly paid the $35 million to Akindele to build a 2,000 barrel per day (BPD), refinery, jetty, gas plant, power plant, data centre and tank farm at Brass free trade zone (FTZ), Okpoama Community in Brass LGA of Bayelsa State,” a source with the EFCC had explained.

Since December 2020 when the payments were made, Akindele abandoned the project with little or nothing to show for the huge sum he received.

Preliminary investigations showed that Wabote’s NCDMB financed 17 different projects, including the 2,000 BPD refinery in Brass LGA.

There has been a series of public fund misappropriation cases in the energy sector in recent times.

FIJ earlier reported that members of the House of Representatives summoned three ministers to defend how over $2 billion was spent on renewable energy with not much to show for it.

A recent FIJ report also recently detailed how residents of Yenagoa, the capital of Bayelsa, have not had power in their homes since July due to the vandalisation of the Ahoada-Yenagoa transmission towers caused by unidentified persons.

The Bayelsa state government told FIJ it was the federal government’s responsibility to provide electricity for residents. The state has no renewable energy options reliable enough to power its capital despite the multi-million-dollar NCMB energy project.

Transparency in the energy sector has become necessary at a time when Nigerians have suffered power instability due to frequent grid collapses.

EFCC arrests ex-NCMB boss over $35m energy project fraud

metro

Court adjourns Yahaya Bello’s trial till Nov 27

Published

6 hours ago

November 14, 2024

Trends Admin

Yahaya Bello

Court adjourns Yahaya Bello’s trial till Nov 27

The Economic and Financial Crimes Commission (EFCC) has requested an adjournment in the new case against the immediate past Governor of Kogi State, Yahaya Bello, stating that the 30-day window for the previously issued summons is still active.

The commission has granted administrative bail to his co-defendants, Umar Oricha and Abdulsalami Hudu, and asked the court for an extension of time for Bello to appear.

At the resumed hearing before Justice Maryann Anenih of the Federal Capital Territory High Court, Abuja, EFCC Counsel Jamiu Agoro noted that the court’s order from October 3rd had not yet expired.

“In that wise, we feel it will not be appropriate for us to take proceedings while that 30 days is still running. So we have discussed and agreed to come back on the 27th day of November, 2024, my lord,” he told the court.

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He also mentioned that the previously set date of November 20th was not convenient for the prosecution counsels.

Counsel to the second defendant, Aliyu Saiki, SAN, confirmed that his client had been granted administrative bail by the prosecution and had no objection to the adjournment request. The third defendant’s counsel, ZE Abass, concurred.

The prosecution counsel also requested the court to allow the notice of hearing to be pasted on the last known address of the first defendant.

After hearing from all counsels, the judge granted the EFCC’s application for adjournment and the issuance of the hearing notice.

“I have considered the application for adjournment by the complainant and issuance of hearing notice and the submission by the second and third defendants. The application is granted,” she said.

Justice Anenih then adjourned the case to November 27th for arraignment.

The former governor, alongside Umar Oricha and Abdulsalami Hudu, are being prosecuted as 1st to 3rd defendants, respectively, in a fresh 16-count charge instituted against them by the EFCC.