2 jailed for diverting divorcees’ 600 bags of rice

A Gombe State High Court has sentenced two men to eight years imprisonment for refusing to pay for and diverting 600 bags of rice meant for divorcees in the state.

Kabiru Ismail and Aji Dan Azumi Ali, were brought before the court by the Economic and Financial Crimes Commission (EFCC) on a three-count charge of conspiracy, obtaining goods by false pretense and forgery.

The first accused person, Ismail, who was a member of a committee set up by the state government to marry off divorcees in 2014, was alleged to have conspired with the second accused, Ali, to defraud one Comrade Aliyu Waziri of N6.6 million in October 2014.

According to the court document, the convicts contacted the complainant and engaged his services to supply 600 bags of rice, for onward distribution to divorcees married off in a mass wedding by the state government in 2014.

The court was told that after the complainant supplied 600 bags of rice worth over N6.6 million, the duo of Ismail and Ali declined to pay him his money and also diverted the rice to their personal use.

The EFCC prosecuting counsel further told the court that the various documents used to award the contract for the supply of rice, were also found to be forged by the accused.

When they were first arraigned on March 14, 2017, they pleaded not guilty to the three-count charge preferred against them.

In his judgment, Justice Abubakar Jauro sentenced the first accused to seven years imprisonment without option of fine on count two.

On count three, the first and second accused were sentenced to 16 months imprisonment with an option of paying N20,000 fine and on count four, the first accused was sentenced to two years imprisonment with an option of N30,000 fine.

Justice Jauro ordered the first convict to pay the sum of N6.6 million as restitution to the complainant.