A 23-year-old man who allegedly faked to be a corps member and infiltrated the National Youth Service Corps orientation camp in Bauchi State has been arrested by the police.
The suspect, identified as one Muhammed Bello Hassan, was alleged to have entered the camp at Wailo, the Ganjuwa Local Government Area of the state, with a fake call-up letter.
Two mobile phones and some valuable items, alleged to have been stolen from corps members in the camp, were reportedly recovered from the suspect according to the News Agency of Nigeria.
The police said that Hassan claimed to have gone to the orientation camp after his mother asked him why he had not graduated from the university like some of his peers
The Police Public Relations Officer, SP Ahmed Wakili, who confirmed the arrest on Friday, explained that the command received a complaint letter of stealing in the camp from the state secretariat of the NYSC, signed by the State Coordinator, Alhaji Namadi Abubakar, on behalf of the Director-General, Maj-Gen Shuaib Ibrahim.
Wakili said the letter was specific about one Muhammed Bello Hassan with a NYSC number, NYSC/USS/2022/27708, and state code, BA/22A/1580.
He said, “The aforementioned name manoeuvred his way into the orientation camp with a fake call-up letter. In the end, he ran out of luck and was caught with two cell phones and some valuable items alleged to be stolen from corps members in the camp.
“Investigation was expanded to our office where the corps member is currently in the State Criminal Investigation Department. The commissioner of police detailed the state CID to investigate and unravel how he came to the orientation camp.’’
Wakili further explained that during the investigation, it was discovered that the man was a dropout of a reputable university in Nigeria, where he was studying Biology.
“He came to Bauchi and entered the orientation camp at night. His purpose of coming to the camp followed the advice of one of his friends who told him to go to the NYSC camp, wear the uniform and snap some pictures to send to his parents as evidence of service.
“Unfortunately for him, luck ran out of him when they were about to close the orientation course. He had no money and had stolen two phones and used the phone to clear his debt of N17,000 with a food seller at the Mammy market who gave him a balance of N10,000 after collecting the two phones,” the PPRO added.
Wakili, however, said the missing phones were traced to the food seller who later disclosed that they were given to him by the fake corps member who was now in police custody.
Also speaking, the Public Relations Officer of the NYSC in Bauchi, Mr Aliyu Suleiman, told NAN that the suspect came in with a posting letter with a stolen kit but was not registered and he kept hiding.
