Two remanded in Kuje prison after pleading guilty to employment scam

By Ayox Ojo

Two men identified as Ibrahim Suleiman Umar and Tijani Adam Goni have been remanded by Federal Capital Territory High Court after pleading guilty to charges bordering on alleged involvement in a N4.8 million job scam and forgery of employment letters.

The two suspects who duped their victims with promises that they can get them employed by the Central Bank of Nigeria (CBN) and the Federal Inland Revenue Service (FIRS) were arraigned by the Independent Corrupt Practices and Other Related Offences Commission (ICPC) before Justice B.M. Bassi on a five-count charge bordering on conspiracy, obtaining by false pretence, and forgery.

According to the ICPC, the duo, in June 2021, conspired to defraud two unsuspecting job seekers of N4.8 million under the guise of securing employment for them at the two organisations.

One of the counts reads:

“That you, Ibrahim Suleiman Umar (m) and Tijani Adam Goni (m), on or about the month of June 2021 at Abuja, within the jurisdiction of this Honourable Court, by false pretences and with intent to defraud, conspired to obtain by false pretences the sum of N4,800,000.00 (Four Million Eight Hundred Thousand Naira) from Saifdeen Yakub and Aminu Abubakar under the pretence that you will secure employment for them at the Central Bank of Nigeria and the Federal Inland Revenue Service, which representation you knew to be false, thereby committing an offence contrary to Section 1(1)(a) and punishable under Section 1(3) of the Advance Fee Fraud and Other Related Offences Act, 2006.”

Investigations by ICPC further revealed that the accused persons forged employment letters purportedly issued by both CBN and FIRS, as well as a document titled “Final Document List”, which they presented to their victims as genuine.

Their offences contravene Section 1(1)(a) and are punishable under Section 1(3) of the Advance Fee Fraud and Other Related Offences Act, 2006, as well as Sections 363 and 364 of the Penal Code.

When the charges were read, both defendants pleaded guilty to all five counts. Justice Bassi consequently ordered their remand at the Kuje Correctional Centre and adjourned the matter to 29th October 2025 for continuation of hearing.

Meanwhile, the first defendant in the case, Mohammed Mustapha, remains at large, with efforts ongoing to apprehend him and bring him before the court to face justice.