5 miners remanded over N25m gold scam in Kwara

Five suspects have been arraigned before a magistrates’ court in Ilorin for swindling their victim of N25 million for a fake gold bar. The accused, Olajide Abdulazeez Ademola, Zakari Umaru, Ali Buzu, Abdullahi Sule and Amadu Goni Umar, were arrested by the police after a complaint by Ismaila Abdulrasaq, a gold merchant in Medina area […]

Five suspects have been arraigned before a magistrates’ court in Ilorin for swindling their victim of N25 million for a fake gold bar.

The accused, Olajide Abdulazeez Ademola, Zakari Umaru, Ali Buzu, Abdullahi Sule and Amadu Goni Umar, were arrested by the police after a complaint by Ismaila Abdulrasaq, a gold merchant in Medina area of Ilorin, the Kwara State capital.

According to the police report, the victim was approached by the duo of Ahmed Maigida and Pastor Titus Samuel with 1kg of gold which was tested and found to be genuine.

“After the first dealing, he was then lured to a gold mining site in Ilesha, Osun State, where he was introduced to the five defendants as gold miners, who deceitfully lured him into buying 10kg of raw gold at the rate of N25m.

“After the complainant had paid the said money into the Stanbic Bank account of the first defendant, Ademola, he discovered that the item sold to him as raw gold were mere pieces of iron painted in colour of gold,” the FIR added.

The prosecutor, Inspector Nosiru Yusuf, told the court that they traced the proceeds from the scam to the bank accounts of all the defendants.

The Magistrate, Ibrahim Mohammed, ordered that the defendants be remanded in prison and adjourned the matter till August 8, 2022.