Yakubu Farouk
The Edo State
Police Command has arrested one Yakubu Farouk for posing as the Niger Delta
correspondent of the Hausa service of the Voice of America.
Farouk, who
hails from Nasarawa State, was arrested by officers of the Oba Market Police
Division on February 3, after demanding N5,000 from the Chairman of the Hausa
community in Edo State, Alhaji Badamasi Saleh, for interview.
Farouk said
that he had told his victim that he was a freelancer with the international
medium, after he was sacked from a local medium, Nigerian Democrat, in Kaduna
for allegedly embezzling an advert payment of N300,000.
“Actually, I
came as a journalist and they discovered that I was not working with the medium
I claimed to be working with. I have not really duped anybody; this is the
first man I spoke with and I was caught.”
But Saleh
said the 35-year-old 2006 graduate of Mass Communication, from the Benue State
Polytechnic, had arranged an interview with him on the 2015 general elections.
He also
explained that he became suspicious of Farouk, when he demanded N5,000 after
the interview and asked for a ride to the Peoples Democratic Party state
secretariat, where he intended to interview a candidate of the party.
The Hausa
community leader said he realised that he was being swindled and drove Farouk
to the police station instead.
He said, “So,
on our way to the PDP secretariat, I called the reporter covering Niger Delta,
Lamid Abubakar, who told me to get him (Farouk) arrested and hand him over to
the police because he was not a VOA employee.
“That was
exactly what I did because I have never come across any journalist interviewing
and demanding money from me.
A statement
signed by the former Commissioner of Police of the state, Foluso Adebanjo, said
the suspect would be charged to court as soon as investigation was completed.
Culled from
Punch
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