Man arrested for defrauding Borno IDP

A man has been arrested by the Nigerian Security and Civil Defence Corps in Borno State for allegedly defrauding Internally Displaced Persons in the state to the tune of N2.7m.

The Corps State Commandant, Alhaji Abdullahi Ibrahim, said the suspect was arrested while selling fake forms to some IDPs in Maiduguri, claiming to use the form to provide relief materials for the displaced persons.

He said, “The suspects have sold a total of 9,000 forms to the IDPs in some camps across Maiduguri at the cost of N300 each, promising them that they will be provided with special relief materials from Abuja.”

Ibrahim added that the suspect, with some of his collaborators now on the run, “engaged the services of some agents in the camps, to deceive the IDPs that special relief materials will be brought to them from Abuja after filling the forms with their passport photographs attached.”

He vowed to interrogate the suspect before handing him over to appropriate authorities for prosecution.

He however advised those living in the IDP camps to be vigilant and report any suspicious persons to security agencies.

Similarly, the commandant said his men also arrested a currency counterfeiter while trying to buy some goods in a shop. He said the suspect was arrested following a tip-off. He said the suspects used fake currency of N1,000 denomination worth N500,000.

He said the suspect was undergoing interrogation by his corps.

“The fraudsters try as much as they can to avoid shop owners, only to go behind them and deceive their boys, as most of them cannot differentiate between the genuine notes and fake ones,” he explained, urging the public to be vigilant.

Meanwhile, President Muhammadu Buhari on Tuesday said that over two million Nigerians had been displaced by the Boko Haram sect.

He regretted that about 70 per cent of the Internally Displaced Persons are women and children.

The Senior Special Assistant to the President on Media and Publicity, Mallam Garba Shehu, in a statement quoted Buhari as speaking while receiving the Greek Medical Charity organisation, also known as “Heart Doctors” at the Presidential Villa, Abuja.

Buhari regretted that 60 per cent of the children at various IDPs are orphaned.

He therefore called on Non-Governmental Organisations and international aid agencies to complement the Federal Government’s efforts to increase humanitarian assistance to IDPs.

The President said the government was working hard to secure and rehabilitate communities ravaged by the Boko Haram insurgents.

He said, “It is a pathetic situation we have. There are more than two million displaced persons, 70 per cent of whom are women and children. Of these, 60 per cent are orphaned children.

“We are willing to work with organisations such as yours to quickly rehabilitate infrastructure, rebuild schools, medical clinics and destroyed homes.”

Buhari told his guests that the task of rehabilitating IDPs in the region was enormous, but noted that with perseverance and commensurate resources such challenges would be surmounted.

He thanked the Greek doctors for their humanitarian activities in the country and assured them that his administration would welcome other public-spirited individuals and organisations with similar intentions.