IGBOZURUOKE FORUM

A 60-year-old man, Inusa Aliyu, and his daughter, Jamila, have been arraigned in a Masaka Upper Area Court, Nasarawa State, for allegedly arranging fake marriage and in the process defrauding one Yusuf Mamuda.

The defendants, who reside at Luvu, Masaka area of the state, are facing a three-count charge of conspiracy, breach of trust and cheating.

The prosecutor, Frank Swem, told the court that one Yusuf Mamuda, a resident of  Kurudu, Abuja , reported the matter at the Divisional Police Station, Masaka on January 4.

Swem alleged that sometimes in September 2017, one Haruna, surname unknown, now at large, conspired with Aliyu and compelled Mamuda to enter into marriage agreement with Jamila.

He said that according to the complainant, Haruna and Aliyu, capitalised on the fact that he was in search of a woman to marry and convinced him to give them the sum of N650,000 as the total cost of the marriage rite.

“When it later occurred to me to investigate on the marriage issue, in order to avoid any form of marrying a woman that has an existing marriage, then I requested for her divorce certificate, since they claimed that Jamila is a divorcee.

“They were unable to produce the certificate as claimed, they started dribbling me and later asked me to give them N60,000 to enable them travel to Zamfara to bring the certificate,” Swem said.

The prosecutor said that the complainant later gave them the N60,000, but they failed to produce the certificate as they promised.

He added that Jamila later told Mamuda that she had no intention of marrying him, adding that everything that happened was a conspiracy between her father and Haruna to defraud him.

The defendants, however, pleaded not guilty to the allegation leveled against them.

The prosecutor said the offences contravened Sections 97, 312 and 322 of the Penal Code.

The judge, Yakubu Ishaku, granted the defendants bail in the sum of N500, 000 each, with one reliable surety each and adjourned the case until January 19 for hearing.

(NAN)