Justice Nasiru Saminu of the Kano State High Court has convicted and sentenced a PhD student, Bulama Abdulrahman, to seven years imprisonment without an option of fine for posing as an auctioneer assigned by the Economic and Financial Crimes Commission (EFCC) to sell some properties forfeited to the Federal Government.
Abdulrahman was jailed after facing trial on a two-count charge bordering on intent to defraud and obtaining under false pretences to the tune of N35 million.
One of the charges read: “That you Abdulrahman Bulama on or about June, 2023, in Kano, within the jurisdiction of the Kano State High Court, with intent to defraud, obtained the sum of N20,000,000 (Twenty Million Naira only) from one Safiyanu Abdullahi of Tauraro and Property Limited under the false pretense that you are an auctioneer and you had the consent and authority of the Economic and Financial Crimes Commission to auction a fenced uncompleted building at Rijiyar Zaki Kano, which pretence you knew to be false and you thereby committed an offence contrary to Section 1(1)(a) of the Advance Fee Fraud and Other Fraud Related Offenses Act, 2006.”
When the charges were read to the defendant, he pleaded not guilty, and in view of his plea, the prosecution counsel, Musa Isah, took the cases to full trial.
During the trial, the prosecution counsel presented three witnesses while the defendant stood as lone witness in his defence.
At the conclusion of the case, Justice Saminu, convinced by the weight of evidence presented by Isah, found the defendant guilty as charged on count two and acquitted him on count one.
Subsequently, Isah prayed the court to convict the defendant accordingly.
The defence counsel pleaded with the court to temper justice with mercy, adding that the defendant is a PhD student at Nasarawa State University.
Accordingly, Justice Saminu convicted the defendant and sentenced him to seven years imprisonment without an option of fine.
The judge further ordered that the defendant should pay the sum of N35 million as restitution to the victim.
The court also ordered that for any failure to pay the restitution, the defendant would serve an additional prison term of seven years.
Bulama’s journey to prison began when EFCC received a petition alleging that he posed as an auctioneer assigned by it to sell some properties that were forfeited to the Federal Government on the Commission’s behalf.
In the process, Bulama allegedly obtained a sum of N35 million from his victims under the guise of selling them a truck and an uncompleted building in Kano.
Bulama was said a serial fraudster who was investigated by the Commission and subsequently convicted by the Kano State High Court on June 28, 2021 for a similar offence bordering on obtaining by false pretence.
