A 43-year-old man has been arrested in Yobe State for possession of 19 seed-planting machines that were part of the state government’s Agricultural Empowerment Programme.
The man was apprehended by troops of Forward Operations Base (FOB) Potiskum on Tuesday morning while transporting the equipment in a bus on the Potiskum to Gombe Road.
The items were concealed within the bus, which had the registration number KTG 449 YG.
Upon arrest, the suspect could not provide any documentation to prove that he was a beneficiary of the agricultural empowerment program.
He claimed to have purchased the machines from a local dealer in Damaturu for N50,000 each and was transporting them to Jigawa State for resale.
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The suspect and the recovered items have been handed over to the Nigeria Security and Civil Defence Corps (NSCDC) for further investigation and prosecution.
Governor Mai Mala Buni had previously instructed security agencies to apprehend anyone found moving the agricultural equipment out of the state.
NAN