The Independent Corrupt Practices and Other Related Offences Commission has arraigned two men, Ibrahim Suleiman Umar and Tijani Adam Goni, before an Abuja High Court over a N4.8 million employment scam and forgery.
The defendants were brought before Justice B.M. Bassi of the Federal Capital Territory High Court on a five-count charge bordering on conspiracy, obtaining by false pretence, and forgery.
According to the charge sheet, Umar and Goni, in June 2021, allegedly deceived two job seekers, Saifdeen Yakub and Aminu Abubakar, into paying N4.8 million on the promise that they would be offered jobs at the Central Bank of Nigeria and the Federal Inland Revenue Service.
One of the charges read in court stated: “That you, Ibrahim Suleiman Umar (m) and Tijani Adam Goni (m), on or about the month of June 2021 at Abuja, within the jurisdiction of this Honourable Court, by false pretences and with intent to defraud, conspired to obtain by false pretences the sum of N4,800,000.00 (Four Million Eight Hundred Thousand Naira) from Saifdeen Yakub and Aminu Abubakar under the pretence that you will secure employment for them at the Central Bank of Nigeria and the Federal Inland Revenue Service, which representation you knew to be false, thereby committing an offence contrary to Section 1(1)(a) and punishable under Section 1(3) of the Advance Fee Fraud and Other Related Offences Act, 2006.”
The ICPC said its investigation showed the men also forged letters of employment, claiming they were issued by CBN and FIRS, and presented a document titled “Final Document List” to convince their victims that the offer was real.
The offences, the Commission noted, violated the Advance Fee Fraud and Other Related Offences Act of 2006, as well as sections 363 and 364 of the Penal Code.
When the charges were read out in court, the two defendants pleaded guilty. Justice Bassi then ordered that they be kept at the Kuje Correctional Centre until the next hearing date fixed for October 29, 2025.
Meanwhile, the ICPC disclosed that a third suspect in the case, Mohammed Mustapha, is still on the run. Efforts are ongoing to track him down and bring him before the court.
