23rd February, 2022
A Gombe State Secondary School Principal, Mr. Bello Muhammed Abubakar, has been arraigned by the Independent Corrupt Practices and Other Related Offences Commission (ICPC), over alleged fraud.
In a two-count charge brought before Justice Halima S. Muhammed of Gombe State High Court 2, ICPC told the Court that the accused person had defrauded unsuspecting admission seekers to the tune of N3,884,200.
The charge accuses Abubakar of collecting money from people under the guise of offering them admission into the unregistered Mukhtar Polytechnic Gombe and Goni Mukhtar College of Education Gombe State.
ICPC says Abubakar obtained the money by false pretence when he illegally operated “Mukhtar Polytechnic, Goni, Mukhtar College of Education, and Goni Mukhtar Linguistic Centre.”
All the schools were in one block of three classrooms in Gombe State between 2009 and 2015.
Counsel to ICPC, Mashkur Salisu, informed the Court how the School Principal was perpetrating the said offences before he was nabbed by operatives of the Commission during an intelligence-led operation.
The Commission has since shut down the said illegal institutions in which the accused person was operating.
The defendant’s actions are contrary to Section 13 and punishable under Section 68 of the Corrupt Practices and Other Related Offences Act, 2000, and Section 1(i) of the Advanced Fee Fraud Act, 2006.
When the accused person was admitted to take his plea, he pleaded not guilty to all the charges when they were read to him.
Counsel to the accused, Mr. A.B. Ebrany moved a bail application in favour of his client which was not opposed by the prosecution counsel.
The trial judge, therefore, granted the accused person bail in the sum of Two Million Naira (N2,000,000) and two sureties in like sum who must be residents within the jurisdiction of the court and must depose to an affidavit of means.
Failure of which he would be remanded in Gombe Correctional Centre.
The case has been adjourned till 29th and 30th of March for hearing.