The police on Wednesday in Lagos, arraigned a 30-year-old cow dealer, Aliyu Usman at an Ikeja Magistrates’ Court for alleged N3.18 million fraud.
Aliyu was also accused of conducting himself in a manner likely to cause a breach of the peace by selling live cows valued N3.18 million without remitting the money to the owner.
The accused, who resides at Kara Abattoir Complex, Agege, Lagos, is facing a four-count charge; bordering on conspiracy, breach of peace and false pretences.
The Police Prosecutor, Insp Rachael Williams, told the court that the accused committed the offences sometime in 2016, at about 10:00 a.m. at Abattoir Cattle Market, Oko-Oba, Agege, a Lagos suburb.
Williams said the accused, with others still at large, obtained live cows worth N3.188 million from the complainant, Alhaji Ibrahim Umaru, on the pretext to sell and remit the money to the owner, but failed to deliver.
The prosecutor alleged that the accused sold the live cows and diverted the money to his personal purse.
The offences contravened Sections 168, 285, 314 and 411 of the Criminal Law of Lagos State, 2015 (Revised).
The News Agency of Nigeria (NAN) reports that Section 314 prescribes 15-year jail term for false pretext while Section 411 provides three years imprisonment for conspiracy.
The accused, however, pleaded not guilty and the magistrate, Mrs O. I. Raji, granted him bail in the sum of N250,000 with two sureties in like sum.
Raji said one of the sureties must be blood-related and the two of them should be gainfully employed with evidence of three years tax payment to the Lagos State Government.
She adjourned the case to April 30 for the mention.
and then