The Maiduguri Zonal Directorate of the Economic and Financial Crimes Commission (EFCC) on Thursday, September 19, 2024, arraigned Hamza Dauda Umar, Abdulrahman Goni, and Abdulmutalib Abdullahi before Justice Muhammad Maina of the Borno State High Court.
The defendants face a twelve-count charge that includes obtaining money by false pretence, criminal breach of trust, conspiracy, and forgery, totaling N3.3 million.
One of the charges, count five, reads: “That you, Hamza Dauda Umar, Abdulrahman Goni, and Abdulmutalib Abdullahi and Bashir Dawud (now at large) on or about December 2023 in Maiduguri, Borno State within the jurisdiction of this Honourable Court did agree amongst yourselves to do an illegal act, to wit: mischief and thereby committed an offence contrary to and punishable under Sections 59 and 60 of the Borno State Penal Code Law.”
All three defendants pleaded not guilty. The prosecution counsel, Mukhtar Ali Ahmed, S.O. Saka, and Faruk Muhammad, requested a trial date. Justice Maina adjourned the case to September 25, 2024, for trial and remanded the defendants to the Maiduguri Correctional Centre.
In a separate case, Justice Muhammad Maina also remanded two other defendants, Ahmed Saleh Mubi and Goni Bukar Ali, in connection with criminal misappropriation charges amounting to N21.9 million. Mubi allegedly misappropriated N19.7 million in a fraudulent currency exchange transaction, while Ali is accused of diverting N2.27 million meant for a grain business investment.
Both Mubi and Ali pleaded not guilty to their respective charges. The court adjourned the trials to September 25, 2024, and remanded them in the Maiduguri Correctional Centre.
