By Abimbola Ogunnaike
The village head of Garin Majidadi in Akko Local Government Area and a councillor representing Kumo East in the same local government in Gombe State are currently in the custody of the state police command over an alleged theft and sale of a community transformer.
The village head, Muhammad Majidadi, along with the councillor, Abdullahi M. Panda and one Muhammad Sani of Sarkin Yaki Quartres, were arrested for allegedly stealing and selling the transformer that served their community.
Parading the suspects before newsmen on Tuesday, 25 June, 2024, the State Police Public relations officer, ASP Buhari Abdullahi, said credible intelligence reports from Akko division led to the arrest of the suspects and the recovery of the stolen transformer from Garin Majidadi village. During the investigation, it was discovered that the transformer was sold to one Bello Ardo Kumo at N1.5 million.
ASP Buhari confirmed that the transformer had been recovered but investigation was ongoing. He assured that the suspects would be charged to court upon the conclusion of the investigation.
Majidadi, while speaking during an interview with newsmen, explained that the transformer had been faulty and redundant for over 10 years, with more than half of its parts stolen by miscreants. He said they had informed their district head and were advised to contact the councillor before selling the remaining parts of the transformer.
“We held a meeting with the community and decided that since most of the important parts were stolen, it would be better to sell it and use the money to sink boreholes. However, we were in the process of finding a buyer when the police arrested us,” Majidadi narrated.
The councillor, Panda, denied authorising the village head to sell the transformer. While he admitted that Majidadi had informed him of the intention to sell the transformer, he claimed to have instructed him to put it in writing and inform the district head, advising them to wait until Monday.
“He couldn’t wait and went ahead to sell it; that is what I know about it,” Panda said.
