Suspects extorting N350,000 for federal job slot arrested in Sokoto
EFCC Chairman, Abdulraheed Bawa
Three suspects — Aminu Sifawa, Ibrahim Shehu and John Danjuma have been arrested by the Sikoto Zonal Command of the Economic and Financial Crimes Commissiin for for allegedly defrauding some jobseekers in the state.
The Zonal Commander, Bawa Kaltungo, who paraded the suspects on Wednesday, said the men specialised in defrauding applicants with non-existing job opportunities in lucrative federal government agencies such as the Nigeria Immigration Service, Nigeria Customs Service and the Nigeria Port Authority.
Kaltungo revealed that the anti-graft agency swung into action following a petition from a victim, Aminu Bunk.
Bunk alleged that in December 2020, Sifawa, a worker in the Ministry of Youths and Sports, introduced him to one of the suspects as someone who could help him get a job.
“The suspect made the victim believe he had an offer for employment from the Nigeria Customs Service, after which the unsuspecting victim informed his friend, Bello Abubakar Wamakko, of the same opportunity.
“In the course of investigation, it was revealed that the suspects lured and convinced their victims to believe that once they made a payment of N350,000 each, amounting to N700,000 for the two, the offer would be theirs.
“Investigation further revealed that the suspects also made some additional demands from their victims such as transport and training fees, bringing the total payment collected from the two suspects to N1,260,000.
Upon obtaining a search warrant, both Aminu Sifawa and Ibrahim Shehu were arrested, while various incriminating documents, including fake Nigeria Customs Service employment forms and the Nigeria Port Authority’s letters, were recovered.
“Other items recovered in the suspects’ houses included prepared aptitude test question papers and score sheets for the Nigeria Immigration Service.”
Kaltungo revealed that Sifawa confessed that all documents found in his possession were forged and fabricated by him through the help of one John Danjuma in Abuja, who was also arrested by the commission.
He disclosed that Shehu initiated and organised a purported Immigration training at the Kwannawa Primary School at the Army Day Primary School in Sokoto.
“He also employed the services of a serving Assistant Superintendent of the Nigeria Immigration Service, who appeared in his official uniform at the training venue to convince the trainers and make it look genuine.
“The Immigration Superintendent lectured the trainees on the rudiments of the Nigeria Immigration Service, prepared exams for them, marked their scripts and awarded scores. He also sold to the trainees what he claimed to be the Immigration manual (photocopy) at the cost of 5,000 naira each.”
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