Police nab alleged impersonator of FCT minister

The FCT Police Command has arrested a 27-year-old man allegedly parading himself as the Minister of the FCT, Muhammed Bello and defrauding unsuspecting members of the public with the fake persona.

The commissioner of police in the FCT, Bala Ciroma, who paraded the suspect, Mohammed Bello Kolo, said he had defrauded his victims of about N52 million while impersonating the minister.

He said he went about that by promising contracts to the victims and collecting the money as instalments.

The CP said the suspect told police that he had access to classified information because he served at the Federal Capital Territory Administration during his National Youth Service Corp (NYSC) attachment.

He noted that the suspect was arrested following a complaint received on October 28 by police operatives attached to the State Intelligence Bureau of the command.

The CP said efforts were on to arrest his cohorts, one Simon and one Idris posing as Director of Procurement, FCTA and PA to the minister respectively.

He added that the suspect would be arraigned in court upon conclusion of investigation.

Reacting to the incident,

Abubakar Sani, Special Assistant to the FCT Minister said the minister did not engage in contract racketeering and was always transparent in all his official duties.

“The office of the FCT Minister, Mallam Musa Bello, is open, you can come to his office and he will tell you whether that contract is genuine or not.

“So we are calling on all Nigerians to beware of fraudsters like this so that they do not fall victims,” Sani added.