A former official of the Nigerian Meteorological Agency, Hamza Gambo, has been arrested for allegedly defrauding 121 job seekers of over N5,173,000.
It was gathered that Gambo, who was employed by NIMET in 2003, was dismissed, reinstated and dismissed again over an offence.
PUNCH Metro learnt that Gambo issued fake NIMET employment letters designed with the agency’s logo to the job seekers after collecting various sums of money from them.
The Intelligence Response Team of the Inspector-General of Police was said to have arrested the suspect in Bauchi after one Beatrice Itodo reported that he swindled her of N2,366,000 through fake employment letters issued to her relatives.
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One of the employment letters seen by PUNCH Metro was dated March 1, 2021, and was signed by one Rabi Mohammed D, the Director of Admin and Supply for the Managing Director of NIMET.
Gambo, in his statement, allegedly confirmed that Itodo paid the sum of N2,366,000 into his Guarantee Trust Bank account number 0018546542 for 15 job seekers and the fake employment letters with the NIMET letterhead was issued to them through electronic mail addresses.
He said, “I have collected a total of N5,173,000 from jobseekers through my bank account. I cannot remember how much I collected based on individuals, but the amount was N2,366,000.
I used the money to build a house in Kandahar, Bauchi State, with the intention of selling it to pay my victims.”
The IRT Commander, Tunji Disu, did not take his calls or respond to a text message sent to his telephone as of press time.
