10th August, 2010
Douglas Williams and Abba Ishaku, staff of the Economic and Financial Crimes Commission (EFCC) were on Monday arraigned in Abuja over a fraud of N50,000.
The duo were docked before a FCT High Court for the alleged crime.
The prosecuting officer, Mr. Sa’ad Hanfi-Sa’ad, said that the accused, who were EFCC Front Desk Officers on July 19, 2010, conspired to obtain the said amount from a former Chairman of Bama Local Government Area of Borno State.
The accused told the former chairman that they were going to destroy a petition received against him if he could offer them the said amount.
Hanfi-Sa’ad submitted that the action of the officers ran contrary to the relevant sections of the Advance Fee Fraud and other related offences Act 2006 punishable under section of the same Act.
The News Agency of Nigeria (NAN) reports that Mr. Wilson Ivara, counsel to the two accused filed an oral application for their bail.
Ivara told that court that the alleged offence was bailable, as according to him, his clients remain innocent.
Hanfi-Sa’ad, however, opposed the application, saying that the court must evaluate the nature of the charge, character of the evidence and assurance that they would not jump bail before granting the prayer.
NAN further reports that Justice U.P. Kekemeke, however, granted the bail application in the sum of N500,000 each and a surety in like sum.
The judge said the sureties must be officers of not less than grade level 10 in the federal civil service.
The case was adjourned till Sept. 27 for further hearing.