A 60-year-old man, Inusa Aliyu, and his daughter, Jamila, were on Thursday arraigned in a Masaka Upper Area Court, Nasarawa State for alleged cheating a suitor of N710, 000.
The defendants, who reside at Luvu Masaka area of the state, are facing a three-count of conspiracy, breach of trust and cheating.
The prosecutor, Frank Swem, told the court that one Yusuf Mamuda, a resident of the Kurudu, Abuja reported the matter at the Divisional Police Station, Masaka on January 4
Mamuda alleged that sometime in September 2017, one Haruna, surname unknown, now at large, conspired with Aliyu and compelled Mamuda to enter into a marriage agreement with Jamilia.
According to Mamuda, Haruna and Aliyu capitalised on the fact that he was in search of a woman to marry so they convinced him to give them the sum of N650,000 as the total cost of the marriage rite.
“When it later occurred to me to investigate on the marriage issue in order to avoid any form of marrying a woman that has an existing marriage, I requested for her divorce certificate since they claimed that Jamila is a divorcee.
“They were unable to produce the certificate as claimed. They started dribbling me and later asked me to give them N60,000 to enable them to travel to Zamfara to bring the certificate,” Mamuda said.
The prosecutor said that the complainant later gave them the N60,000, but they failed to produce the certificate as they promised.
He added that Jamila later told Mamuda that she had no intention of marrying him, adding that everything that happened was a conspiracy between her father and Haruna to defraud him.
The defendants, however, pleaded not guilty to the allegation levelled against them.
According to him, the offences contravened Sections 97, 312 and 322 of the Penal Code.
The judge, Yakubu Ishaku, granted the defendants bail in the sum of N500, 000 each, with one reliable surety each in like sum and adjourned the case until Jan. 19 for hearing. (NAN)
