EFCC arraigns man for land racketeering in Borno
The Economic and Financial Crimes Commission (EFCC), under the Maiduguri Zonal Directorate, arraigned Bukar Umar Alhaji before Justice Muhammad Maina of the Borno State High Court in Maiduguri on Wednesday.
He was charged with two counts: obtaining property by false pretenses and criminal misappropriation, amounting to N2,100,000.
However, Bukar Umar Alhaji pleaded not guilty to these charges upon being read them.
Counsel for the prosecution, Faruk Muhammad, requested that the court set a trial date and remand the defendant to prison custody.
Count one of the charges reads: “That you Bukar Umar Alhaji, with National Identification Number (NIN) 9584243514, and Babagoni Umar (now at large), sometime in March, 2022, in Maiduguri Borno State, within the jurisdiction of this Honourable Court, did with intent to defraud obtained the gross sum of N2,100,000.00 from Ibrahim Ismail under the guise that the said money is for the sale of two plots of land to him situated at Mafa Local Government Area, Borno State, the land which you knew to be false and you thereby committed an offence contrary to Section 1(1)(a)&(b) of the Advance Fee Fraud and other Fraud Related Offences Act, 2005 and punishable under Section 1(3) of the same Act.”
Justice Maina adjourned the trial until December 4, 2023, and remanded Bukar Umar Alhaji at the Maiduguri Maximum Correctional Facility.
His legal process commenced when he sold plots of land that did not belong to him and declined to repay the money received from his victim.