The police in Damaturu, the capital of Yobe State, have arrested three individuals on charges of defrauding four residents of food grains valued at over N81 million.

The police arrested the suspects for criminal conspiracy, cheating, and criminal breach of trust.

The suspects were identified as 44-year-old Hajiya Zainab Ahmed of Anguwan Sanusi, Kaduna, Sunday Ezra Haruna, 35, and Ishaku Abdulsalam, 40, of Hotoro Ward in Kano.

Dungus Abdulkarim, the Yobe State Police Command’s spokesman, in a statement, explained that, “the suspects allegedly specialised in disguising themselves as workers of a non-governmental organisation to purchase grains for distribution in internally displaced persons’ camps but without immediate payment of cash.”

The statement further explained that the arrest followed a complaint received by one Ibrahim Mohammed and one Abubakar Usman of Abasha ward, Damaturu, that one Mohammed Modu of Nayi Nawa Ward, Damaturu collected 180 bags of maize valued at N7.4m, which Modu could not pay for within the agreed number of days.

It added that the suspects also specialised in luring unsuspecting victims mostly farmers and marketers to a contract to buy food items by disguising and presenting themselves as NGO workers, with false promises to pay after supplying to a particular destination in Borno, Yobe or any place of choice.

After a supply, the statement stated that they would request the victims to wait for their payment, pointing out that they would later sell the grains at a giveaway price without the victim(s) knowledge.

It listed the four persons defrauded as Mohammed Modu of Nayi Nawa ward, who allegedly lost N7.4m worth of maize, Ibrahim Mohammed and Abubakar Usman of Abasha ward, who allegedly lost N22m worth of maize to the suspects.

Others were Alhaji Arma Yau Yahaya of Bauchi State, N29.995m worth of rice and Ishaku Salihu Chaptu of Mangu, Plateau State, who allegedly lost N22m worth of maize.