In what could be seen as a well thought and mapped out strategy, the suspect alongside his associate, aside cleverly producing a Memorandum of Understanding (Mou), being signed by desperate applicants and the suspect, they equally produced a forged letter-head paper bearing the name of the Senate president. Parading the suspect in Abuja, the Director of Public Relations, Group Captain Ayodele Famuyiwa said aside the advert placed by the Service in three national dailies, including; Daily Trust, Punch and THISDAY, NAF still went ahead to distribute posters on the exercise to all states of the Federation through States Liason Offices in Abuja, for display at strategic locations across the country to further educate prospective applicants on the requirements and also to create awareness. According to him, “The NAF made it crystal clear that registration for the recruitment exercise is free and that applicants are to register online. Unfortunately, some unscrupulous elements and hoodlums have decided to abuse the ongoing NAF recruitment process by defrauding unsuspecting members of the public of their hard earned money.” Prior to the arrest, Famuyiwa said there were allegations that NAF was charging fees for the ongoing recruitment exercise contrary to the directive by the federal government that recruitment exercises were free. Based on this, the Federal Character Commission (FCC), in a letter dated February 22, 2016 and signed by the Acting Secretary of the commission, drew the attention of NAF to the possible existence of such illicit syndicate. Acting on the information, the NAF was able to arrest 30 year old Babangida on the 24th of February, 2016 in Abuja, who had been posing as a recruitment agent for NAF and other security agencies. Babangida who is also known as ‘Facilitator’ was arrested in the company of another suspect, Usman Sakaba, whom he claimed worked with the Federal Capital Development Authority (FCDA), though currently at large. Famuyiwa said investigation revealed that the suspect was not acting alone, but a member of a syndicate, adding that though he had confessed to have collected money from a number of people with a promise to assist them for recruitment into the military, Civil Defence, Road Safety and a number of paramilitary organisations. He noted that from the three witnesses that had come up, the suspect had collected a sum of N595, 000. Babangida said: “I have not been doing this business with anybody, it was my friend, Usman Sakaba that introduced me to his brothers, Sakaba works in FCDA. “We collected money from them, me and Usman for recruitment. Usman is the one who drafted the agreement that we asked applicants to sign and the purported letter that emanated from the Senate President’s office, it was Usman, he’s perfect with computer,” he noted. The suspect however maintained that the ATM cards found on him belong to him. “All the ATM cards belong to me, some of them are not working, I don’t throw it away if it has expired,” he said. The NAF said that the suspect and the exhibit would be handed to the police for further investigation, while also reiterating that the service did not charge any money for the ongoing recruitment exercise. Items found on him include seven ATM cards, complimentary and business cards, and a purported letter written by the Senate President to the Chief of Air Staff recommending ten other applicants for employment.]]>