Fake soldier gets 3yrs over 7m job scam

A Minna Chief Magistrates’ Court has sentenced a 32-year-old man to three years imprisonment for defrauding unsuspecting applicants of N7 million under the guise of giving them employment. Tanko Mohammed, according to the Police Prosecutor, ASP Daniel Ikwoche, parades himself as military officer with power to place applicants into the Army. He was arraigned on […]

A Minna Chief Magistrates’ Court has sentenced a 32-year-old man to three years imprisonment for defrauding unsuspecting applicants of N7 million under the guise of giving them employment.

Tanko Mohammed, according to the Police Prosecutor, ASP Daniel Ikwoche, parades himself as military officer with power to place applicants into the Army.

He was arraigned on four-count charges of criminal breach of trust, cheating, impersonating a public servant and criminal charms. ASP Daniel Ikwoche told the court that one Diko Barde had filed a petition against the accused person at the IGP Monitoring Unit, Minna office on July 9.

According to the Prosecutor, the complainant had alleged that in March 2017, the accused person came to him claiming to be a soldier serving with the Nigeria Army Depot Training, Zaria and that he had slots for 42 candidates to be recruited into the Nigeria Army.

He said each candidate was said to have paid to the accused person between N105, 000 and, N150, 000, amounting to about N7m without offer of appointment.

The prosecutor thereafter prayed the summary trail of the suspect in line with section 157 of the Criminal Procedure Code.

In his ruling, Magistrate Nasir Mu’azu sentenced him to one-year imprisonment with hard labour for each of breach of trust, cheating and impersonation, to run consecutively.

On the prosecution’s application for compensation to the victims, the judge asked the complainant to make such claims by way of a civil suit.