BY ABDULGAFAR OLADIMEJI, KANO
The Kano State police command has arrested a 38-year-old man, Buhari Hassan, a resident of Sauna quarters, Kano for allegedly defrauding some cotton farmers to the tune of N8million.
The police alleged that Hassan recruited his victims under the pretext that he would provide the farmers with cotton loans and tractors from the Central Bank of Nigeria in order to boost their productivity.
The Kano State police command confirmed that the suspect was arrested on August 30, at about 3pm in Kano.
Spokesman of the command, Abullahi Haruna Kiyawa, told The Point that Hassan, 38, posed as an agent of the National Cotton Association of Nigeria, an affiliate of Central Bank of Nigeria Anchor Borrowers Programme, to defraud unsuspecting members of the public through the use of forged documents.
Kiyawa said that the Commissioner of Police, Kano State command, Sama’ila Shu’aibu Dikko, had deployed a team of policemen, led by Shehu Dahiru, to investigate and arrest suspected persons who were connected to the crime.
He added, “The team immediately swung into action and arrested the suspect at Yankaba Quarters, Kano, after he had swindled Muttaka Muhammad, Lawal Mohammed and Habibu Muhammad, all of Yankaba quarters, Nassarawa LGA Kano of the sum of N700, 000.00.
“The suspect was caught in possession of 47 fake identity cards bearing different names, photographs and other falsified documents of the National Cotton Association of Nigeria, Kano State Chapter. Further search led to the recovery of the computer he used in printing the forged documents.
“During interrogation, the suspect revealed that he had worked with the National Cotton Association of Nigeria in Kano, but was dismissed for forging some of their documents. He confessed that he paraded himself as a staff of the National Cotton Association of Nigeria to defraud unsuspecting members of the public.
“About 64 persons reported that the suspect defrauded them to the sum of N6, 294,200.00. The Commissioner of Police, Sama’ila Shu’aibu Dikko, has ordered discreet investigation of the suspect. The suspect will be charged to court upon completion of investigation.”
