The Economic and Financial Crimes Commission (EFCC), Sokoto zonal office, has arrested a POS operator and two employees of Union Bank over the alleged unlawful withdrawal of N1.2 million from the Sokoto state schools feeding programme initiated by the Federal Government.
Zonal Head of the Commission, Abdullahi Lawal, while briefing newsmen in Sokoto, stated that the Commission had started an investigation of 3,000 Cooks of the Sokoto State Schools Feeding Programme, managed by Federal Government’s Home Grown Schools Feeding Programme (HGSFP) in Sokoto and Kebbi states.
He also stated that some Local Government Education Secretaries were allegedly involved in the fraud in the Schools Feeding Programme, especially in remote areas which led to arrest of suspects, the POS operator Zaharadeen Ibrahim, Ngozi Agbonjari and Michael Alabi, both staff of Union Bank in Sokoto.
That the suspects cloned ATM cards belonging to Fatima Ahmadu and Sadiya Bello and after some time withdrew N1 million at Gwadabawa and Bodinga Local Government Areas and that the Commission had recovered N652,000 from Agbonjari and Alabi while efforts are on top gear to recover N553,000 from Ibrahim including the ATM cards.
In another development, Lawal disclosed that operatives of the Commission arrested one Bello Umar of Sokoto Central Market, who allegedly sold a non-existing land located at Kalambaina in Sokoto town to one Abdurahman Abdurahman for N480,000.
The Zonal Head added that the commission also arrested one Ogunsina Micheal and Abdulwahab Mayowa of Old Airport Road Sokoto, over the alleged fraudulent withdrawal of N47,000 from one Paulina Asogba’s Zenith bank account.
He said the investigation revealed that Asogba gave her account details to Mayowa to deduct N4,000 from her account but the suspects conspired and transferred N47,000.
He said that the suspects confessed to the crimes and they would soon be charged to court while cautioning the general public against disclosing their bank account details to avoid being duped.
