Father, daughter arraigned for ‘cheating’

The defendants, who live at Luvu Masaka, are facing a three-count charge of conspiracy, breach of trust and cheating. The prosecutor, Frank Swem, told the court that Yusuf Mamuda, a resident of Kurudu, Abuja, reported the matter at the Divisional Police Station, Masaka, on January 4 Swem alleged that in September, a man simply identified as Haruna, now at large, conspired with Aliyu to persuade Mamuda to marry Jamilia. He told the court Haruna and Aliyu capitalised on the fact that Mamuda was searching for a wife. They asked him to pay N650,000 for the marriage rite. Quoting the complainant, Swem said: “When it occurred to me to investigate, to avoid taking an already married woman, I requested her divorce certificate, since they claimed Jamilia is a divorcee. “They were unable to produce the certificate as claimed; they asked me to give them N60,000 to enable them travel to Zamfara to bring the certificate,” Swem said. The prosecutor said the complainant gave them the N60,000, but they failed to produce the certificate. However, he said Jamilia later told Mamuda that she won’t marry him, as everything was a conspiracy between her father and Haruna, to defraud him. The defendants pleaded not guilty. According to him, the offences contravened sections 97, 312 and 322 of the Penal Code. The judge, Yakubu Ishaku, granted the defendants N500,000 bail each, with a reliable surety each. He adjourned till January 19.]]>