A serving councilor elected under the banner of the ruling All Progressive Congress (APC) representing Kumo East ward in Akko LGA of Gombe State, Hon Abdullahi M Panda has been arrested by the Gombe State Police Command for alleged conspiracy in the theft and subsequent sale of a ten-year-old Community electricity transformer.
The councilor was arrested alongside the village head of Garin Majidadi village, Mohammed Majidadi, and one Mohammed Sani of Sarkin Yaki Quarters all in Kumo, Akko Local Government Area of Gombe State who were paraded at the State Police Command headquarters in Gombe on Monday for the theft of the transformer worth Millions of Naira.
The suspects who were paraded along with the alleged buyer of the transformer, one Bello Ardo Kumo, were alleged to have sold the transformer to the buyer at the cost of N1,500,000.00.
While parading the suspects before newsmen, the Gombe State Police Command’s Spokesman, ASP Buhari Abdullahi, explained that Detectives from Akko Division intercepted the suspects with the transformer that was stolen from Garin Majidadi village.
According to the PPRO, though the transformer had been recovered, the suspects will be charged in court after the conclusion of the investigations.
However, while answering questions from Journalists, the Councillor said that the transformer belonged to the community who agreed to sell it since because it had not been installed nor working for the past ten years when it was donated by a politician to the community.
According to him, when he was approached with the issue after the community sat together with the District Head and the Village head, he asked the people to bring the issue in writing for him to take it further.
He stated however that while he asked them to come on Monday, they went ahead and sold the transformer on Friday, two days before their appointment insisting that he was innocent of the allegations.
He however called for a thorough investigation and possible arraignment in court to get justice saying, “I want fairness in the matter.”
Also speaking, the village head, Muhammadu Majidadi said, “I came here to the Police Headquarters over the issue of a 10-year-old transformer that had never worked since it was donated by a Politician. We discovered that some unknown people were removing the parts and vandalising it.”
He added; “I have reported the matter to the Police on several occasions so that our sons will not be implicated. There were series of meetings and discussions over the issue and at the end it was decided that it should be sold.”
The Village Head added that, “We met the District Head who asked me to go and meet the Councillor representing the area. We met him and he directed that we put it into writing so that he will follow it up at the Council Secretariat.”
According to him, “We planned to construct an Islamiyya School, a borehole for water supply in the Community. We were in the process of selling when Police operatives swooped on us, arrested us and brought us to the Police Station in Kumo and then here at the headquarters.”
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