GM Maiduguri flour Mills bags 28;Years Imprisonment for, fraud, misappropriation of fund to be run concurrently
By Madu Mohammed Maiduguri
The court of Appeal Sitting in Gombe on Friday has jailed the former General Manager of Maiduguri Flour Mills, Ma’aji Shettima Arfo. to 28 years imprisonment to be run concurrently for misappropriating N86.1M belonging to the Borno State Government and the Flour mills of Nigeria while he was the General manager of Maiduguri Flour Mills Ltd .
The court In a unanimous judgement found Arfo guilty of 4 out of the 6 count charges leveled against him and upheld the judgement of the lower court.
Arfo was arraigned on a six-count charges by the Independent Corrupt Practices and Other Related Offences Commission (ICPC)/for offences bordering on abuse of office and conferring undue advantage on himself.
It could be recalled that, Justice Haruna Mshellia of the Borno State High Court 3 , sitting in Maiduguri, has earlier sentenced the former GM, Ma’aji Arfo, to 28 years imprisonment for engaging in an N86.1 Million contract fraud, where he appealed the judgement.
According to charged, Arfo, while acting as the General Manager of the Flour Mill, between 2014 and 2020, engaged in multiple fraud in violation of Sections 12 and 19 of the Corrupt Practices and Other Related Offences Act, 2000, punishable under relevant sections of the same Act.
They found the former GM for awarding revealed multiple contracts to Falkwat Multi links Limited, a private company where he was a director, to supply diesel and maize to Maiduguri Flour Mills.
Counsel to ICPC, Anas Mohammed Kolo told the court that the convict in October 2015, awarded a N4.9 million contract to Falkwat Multilinks Limited to supply 40,000 litres of diesel to the flour mill, also , while being a public servant, he awarded several contracts between 2016 and 2017 to his private company to supply maize to Maiduguri Flour Mills Limited.
The ICPC Counsel also argued that he authorized the payments of N42.1m to his company in July 2016 for the supply of 386.45 metric tonnes of maize and another N23m to the same company in March, 2016 to supply 306.94 metric tonnes of maize to the flour mills.
The ICPC in statement issued by its spokesperson, Azuka Ogugua, on Thursday and made available to journalists in Maiduguri’ said he was convicted for yet another offence when he approved the payment of N16m to Falkwat Multilinks to supply 217.45 metric tonnes of maize.
The statement read, “Justice Mshellia at the end of the trial found the General Manager guilty of four counts out of six preferred against him and sentenced him to seven years imprisonment on each count totaling 28 year bu judge ruled the prison terms will run concurrently.
