Connect with us

Metro

Police arraigns Adamawa education secretary, four others for alleged diversion of school bags

Published

on

Police on Tuesday arraigned the Education Secretary of Mubi South Local Government Area of Adamawa State, Jibrilla Babale, and four others at the Yola Criminal Area Court II for allegedly diverting 800 school bags donated by the United Nations Children’s Fund (UNICEF) to public school pupils in the area.

Other defendants were the UNICEF Distribution Coordinator for Mubi South and North LGAs, Mustapha Mohammed, Musa Mahmud, Aliyu Mohammed, and Mohammed Yahaya.

They were arraigned by the Adamawa State Commissioner of Police, Mohammed Barde, on a three-count charge of criminal conspiracy, breach of official trust, and receiving of stolen property.

Barde, who was represented in court by Insp. Boyom Alex, said a team of operatives attached to State Intelligence Bureau (SIB) Yola, led by Abraham Adamu, arrested the suspects following a tipoff between October 14 and 16.

He said Babale, who was officially entrusted with the distribution of the school bags to pupils in public schools free of charge, allegedly diverted the items and gave them to Mohammed, who in turn sold some to Mahmud for N330,000.

READ ALSO: UNICEF rues poor welfare packages for Adamawa teachers

The police commissioner said: “Mahmud later sold the bags to Mohammed and Yahaya at N420,000, while knowing fully well that the bags were provided to be distributed free of charge and not sold to anyone.”

The defendants however pleaded not guilty to the charges.

The counsel to the defendants, T. U. Danjuma, urged the court to grant his clients bail, saying the defendants had given assurances that they would neither jump bail nor interfere in the ongoing investigation.

But the prosecution objected to the application, saying police operatives were out to arrest other conspirators and that granting the defendants bail would jeopardise their efforts.

The presiding judge, Musa Nuhu Garta, ordered that the defendants be remanded in a correctional facility and adjourned the case till November 1 for further hearing.

Join the conversation

Opinions

Support Ripples Nigeria, hold up solutions journalism

Balanced, fearless journalism driven by data comes at huge financial costs.

As a media platform, we hold leadership accountable and will not trade the right to press freedom and free speech for a piece of cake.

If you like what we do, and are ready to uphold solutions journalism, kindly donate to the Ripples Nigeria cause.

Your support would help to ensure that citizens and institutions continue to have free access to credible and reliable information for societal development.

Donate Now