A 43-year-old man has been arrested in Yobe for allegedly diverting government-owned agricultural equipment meant to support local farmers.
The man was found in possession of 19 seed-planting machines, which had been distributed by the Yobe State Government under its Agriculture Empowerment Programme.
The machines were intended to help boost farming efforts across the state by providing equipment to farmers free of charge.
According to a statement released by retired Brig.-Gen. Dahiru Abdulsalam, who is the Special Adviser to Governor Mai Mala Buni on Security Matters, the suspect was arrested in the early hours of Tuesday, around 12:10 AM.
“Today, at about 00:10 AM, troops of FOB Potiskum arrested a man in possession of 19 seed planters.
“The items which are suspected to have been issued for the Yobe State Agricultural Empowerment Programme were concealed in a blue coloured 18-seater bus with Registration No: KTG 449 YG,” Abdulsalam said.
“The owner of the items had no letter of authority for issue of the items to him or anyone else.
“The suspect who hails from Jigawa State claimed that he bought the items from one Alhaji Babaji with phone number 08032837370 in Damaturu at the rate of N50,000.00 each.
“He stated that he was conveying the items to resell in Dutse, Jigawa,” he said.
In line with government directives, the suspect and the seized equipment will be handed over to the Nigeria Security and Civil Defence Corps (NSCDC) for further investigation and possible prosecution.
Governor Buni had earlier ordered security agents to closely monitor the distribution of the agricultural tools and to apprehend anyone caught moving them out of the state.
