Police arraign Bauchi council officials over N9m theft

THE police have arraigned six account officials of Katagum Local Council Area of Bauchi State before the Chief Magistrate's Court Eight over criminal conspiracy, house break and negligence that led to the stealing of N9,027,336,69 made up of March's salaries and allowances of the councilworkers.Arraigning the suspects yesterday, Police Prosecutor, Inspector Baba Sarki Hussaini, said: 'The case was transferred from the Azare Division along with the suspects to the state Criminal Investigation Department, who being staffers of the account section of the council collected workers' salaries for the month of March 2012. After they made the payment of the day, they kept the remaining balance in the safe inside the office.'Sarki told the court that 'thereafter they kept the money and unknown gunmen took advantage of their negligence, stormed the secretariat, broke the office and stole N9,027,336,69. Both the account staffers and the security guards cannot defend their actions which are contrary to section 288 and 196 of the penal code.'The suspects through their counsel, Patrick Owoicho, applied for the bail of the accused, which was opposed by the prosecutor because of the fear that they might tamper with the investigation.In his ruling, presiding Chief Magistrate Isa Mohammed said the onus of proving a criminal allegation lay with the prosecutors as in this case every suspect was presumed innocent until proven guiltyas contained in section 36 (5) of the 1999 Constitution. He granted the bail application of the suspects at the sum of N200,000 with a surety in like sum and the surety must be a ward head of where the suspect was residing.Magistrate Mohammed said each surety must write and undertake to produce the suspect any time the court requested his appearance and they would deposit a certificate of occupancy of a landed property worth N1 million and two passport photographs of both the surety and the suspect within a court jurisdiction. He adjourned the suit to May 8 for further hearing.
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