The Kaduna Zonal Office of the Economic and Financial Crimes Commission (EFCC), on Wednesday, November 11, 2020, arraigned one Abubakar Mohammed Babangida alongside his company HAFSAMAB Technical Services Limited before Justice M. Tukur of the Kaduna State High Court, for fraud.
The defendants were arraigned on one-count charge of cheating to the tune of N15,561,000.00 (Fifteen Million, Five Hundred Sixty-one Thousand Naira).
The charge read, “That you, Abubakar Muhammad Babangida and HAFSAMAB Technical Services Limited, sometime in November, 2016, at Kaduna within the jurisdiction of this honourable court, cheated one Alhaji Muhammad Ibrahim and M.I.A and Sons Ltd by an act that caused them to deliver two trucks of AGO (Automotive Gas Oil, diesel) of 40,000 litres and 39,800 litres respectively, valued at N15,561,000.00 (Fifteen Million, Five Hundred Sixty-one Thousand Naira) with the belief that you would pay for the products once the cooperative housing development loan granted to you by the Federal Mortgage Bank of Nigeria to build 100 units of two and three bedroom semi-detached bungalow in favour of Niger State Civil Servant Cooperative Union is disbursed to you. This is with the knowledge that you would likely cause wrongful loss to the said Alhaji Muhammad Ibrahim and M.I.A and Sons Ltd and you thereby committed an offence, contrary to Section 323 of the Penal Code Law Cap 89 Laws of Kaduna State 1991.”
The defendants pleaded “not guilty” to the charge, upon which prosecution counsel, Ene Eimonye asked the court for a trial date, while defence counsel, Fayemi Stephen made a bail application for his clients.
Justice Tukur slated November 24, 2020 for hearing on the bail application and ordered that the first defendant be remanded in Nigerian Correctional Service, Kaduna.
He adjourned the case till February 17, 2021 for commencement of trial.
Abubakar, 41, being the alter ego of HAFSAMAB Technical Services Limited, sometime in November, 2016 caused the petitioner to supply two trucks of diesel, valued at a total cost of N15,561.00 (Fifteen Million Five Hundred Sixty-one Thousand Naira) to the company and had so far resisted all efforts by his victim to make him pay for the deliveries.
![Rev. Fr. Anthony Odiong, a US-based Nigerian Louisiana Catholic priest, was arrested in Florida on Tuesday for possessing child pornography, according to law authorities. The suspect is reportedly accused of many other cases of sexual assault. The Waco, Texas, Police Department announced in a Facebook post on Tuesday that officers detained Father Anthony Odiong in Ave Maria, Florida, with assistance from the United States Marshals Service. Waco police announced in March that they had received "credible information" about a sexual assault allegedly committed by Odiong in Texas in 2012. “During the subsequent investigation, a case of possession of child pornography was uncovered,” the police said. The priest was apprehended in Florida by the Caribbean Regional Fugitive Task Force. The Waco Police Department said that he will be extradited to Texas. Odiong had previously served in the Archdiocese of New Orleans before being removed as priest in December of last year due to controversy over homilies in which he claimed, among other things, that the Catholic Church was being taken over by "the gays." At the time, the priest was also accused of abusive behaviour; a Louisiana lady claimed in U.S. bankruptcy court that Odiong had committed both financial and sexual abuse against her. Prior to joining the New Orleans Archdiocese, Odiong served in at least two Texas parishes. On Tuesday, Waco police stated that during their sexual assault investigation, "the presence of other survivors was revealed." “Multiple women have come forward to tell similar experiences as the sexual assault survivor who reported the initial allegation,” the police department said. “Survivors’ experiences ranged from sexual assault and indecent assault, more commonly recognised as groping, and financial abuse, with some survivors experiencing every element of Anthony Odiong’s manipulation.” The police said they “believe there may be more survivors, and we wish to speak with anyone who [has] had similar encounters” with the priest. The Archdiocese of New Orleans issued a brief news release on Tuesday noting Odiong's arrest in Florida. The archdiocese “encourages anyone with any information to contact law enforcement,” the release said.](https://chronicle.ng/wp-content/uploads/2024/08/ezgif-6-4730550ede-450x300.jpg "Odiong: US-based Nigerian Catholic priest convicted over sexual assault")
