Wearing a humanitarian face, a self acclaimed human rights activist , Dr Suleiman Shu’aibu Shinkafi (Zamfara State) and one Adamu Abubakar Sadiq (based in Kaduna) have duped a Bauchi based orphanage centre ‘Mallam Kawu Youth Rehabilitation and Orphanage Centre MKYROC’ of 2.34 million Naira under the pretext of opening a website and linking the centre with international donor organizations.
While Suleiman Shinkafi allegedly duped the centre of about 2 million Naira, his partner Adamu Abubakar Sadiq who is the MD of Micro Computers Kaduna robbed the centre of 241, 000.00 Naira over a period of two years.
Dr Suleiman Shinkafi and Adamu Abubakar Sadiq received the money at various times from January, 2017 to November, 2018 in the name of opening a website for the centre, through which international donors from all over the world could make donations or give grants to the centre.
The money was paid to shinkafi and Sadiq in cash and through lodgments into their personal accounts domiciled in First Bank and Access Bank as well as airtime recharge cards over the period.
Of the 2 million Naira Dr Shinkafi fraudulent obtained from the centre, four hundred and ten thousand Naira was handed over to him in cash. The first being three hundred and sixty thousand Naira (360,000.00) given to him at his Zaranda Hotel room and one hundred and fifty thousand Naira (150,000.00) handed over to him at Unguwar Jaki in Bauchi metropolis.
Bank tellers in possession of this medium exclusively obtained from the victim, indicated how various hundreds of thousands of Naira were lodged into Dr Shinkafi’s First Bank Account (3095956917) over the two year period.
Shinkafi’s accomplice Adamu Abubakar Sadiq of Micro Computer Kaduna on the other hand, duped the centre the cumulative sum of N341,000.00 (Three hundred and forty one thousand Naira).
Like Shinkafi, Adamu Abubakar Sadiq was paid the money through his bank account domiciled with Access Bank (0727150624) in various installments and cash presentations.
A savior turned fraudster
Since inception in 2002 the proprietor of MKYROC Abdullahi Muhammed Tahir run his centre which houses over 300 people through personal efforts and the meager amount he charges for the rehabilitation of deviant children, juveniles and youth brought to the centre from all the 19 northern states except Kwara.
The unsuspecting Abdullahi Muhammed Tahir largely preoccupies himself with feeding, healthcare and general wellbeing of his children-a work that earned recognition from the government of Bauchi state, The Nigeria Prison Service, The National Drug Law Enforcement Agency and Civil Society Organizations.
Probably, this was why when the Director Amnesty International Nigeria in charge of northern states Dr Suleiman Shuaibu Shinkafi (as he claimed) visited Bauchi Central Prison, Mallam Kawu’s centre was recommended to him in view of its outstanding works in the area of rehabilitating recalcitrants.
On 28th January, 2017, Dr Suleiman Shuaibu Shinkafi along with one Honourable Isa Abu Yousouf (a Bauchi based politician) visited the centre where they dined with occupants of the centre and delivered encouraging speeches and pieces of advice.
Seeing their tremendous works according to Abdullahi Muhammed Tahir, Dr Suleiman Shuaibu Shinkafi encouraged and insisted that the centre must establish a website through which it could make its activities known to the outside world, in order to attract grants and donations.
“He asked me to meet him at his room on 9th floor in Zaranda hotel”.
Abdullahi Muhammed Tahir said while in Zaranda hotel Dr Suleiman, proposed opening a website for the centre and requested for three hundred thousand Naira (N300,000.00) being the associated cost for the construction of the site, and recommended who should be awarded the contract to build it (the centre’s website).
“Hon. Isa Abou Yousouf in whose presence the discussions ensued and who built a personal website at just fifty thousand Naira (50,000.00) even queried the amount requested, but Dr Suleiman Shuaibu insisted the website is a special one, claimed Abdullahi Muhammed Tahir.
“I borrowed the money and presented it to Dr Suleiman the following day in the presence of Hon Isa Abou Yousouf, Hon Danlami Kansila, Alhaji Nuhu Yakubu Idris and MKYROC’s PRO in the same Zaranda Hotel room”, continued Tahir.
As if that was not enough, Dr Suleiman asked MKYROC’s proprietor to bring additional sixty thousand Naira and some vital documents of the centre, a day after he was presented with the three hundred thousand Naira (300,000.00).
“The sixty thousand Naira (60,00.00) and a flash drive containing the requested documents were again handed over to Dr Shinkafi at his Zaranda Hotel room” says Abdullahi Muhammed tahir.
This was the beginning of an almost two year fraud allegedly perpetrated by Dr Suleiman shuaibu Shinkafi against MKYROC, through which he ripped them off nearly two million Naira (2,000,000.00) under the pretext of creating a website.
The dubious means through which Dr Suleiman received the monies include hotel lodgments and travel expenses to Lagos, Akure and Owerri as well as airtime recharge cards for continuation of work on the website.
“At some points he told me that the website was being developed by an Igbo man in Lagos and that he (Dr Shinkafi) needed to go there to monitor progress on the work. Therefore he asked me to pay for his hotel accommodation, feeding and travel expenses by air-which we did”.
Dr Shinkafi also used this trick to obtain three hundred and fifty thousand Naira (350,000.00) from MKYROC for such dubious trips to Akure and Lagos to defend proposals before international donors on behalf of the centre.
Dr Suleiman Shinkafi also obtained one hundred and fifty thousand Naira (150,000.00) for a trip to Owerri for a meeting with Imo state governor Rochas Okorocha.
Dr Shinkafi did not only rob the foundation of cash, WikkiTimes also exclusively obtained text messages where he requested Abdullahi Muhammed Tahir to send him recharge cards to enable him buy data to fast tract the website development.
“We have sent him recharge cards several times as you can see via the messages on my phone” said Tahir as he scroll through his phone for our correspondents to have a peep.
WikkiTimes correspondents personally screenshot the portion of the messages on Abdullahi Muhamed Tahir’s phone where the airtime recharge cards were sent to Dr Suleiman Shuiabu Shinkafi.
A fifty three million dollar grant ($53m) for MKYROC
Having dubiously obtained so much from the centre with nothing to show, Dr Shinkafi told Mohammed Tahir that a whopping $53 million meant to support the centre was stashed in a financial house, to which MKYROC needed to pay five thousand dollars on each million dollar to secure the grant.
This is beside the associated cost of visa, flight, feeding and accommodation for a trip to the USA to “defend the grant”.
However, by this time Abdullahi Muhammed Tahir had already given up and therefore told Dr Shinkafi that he no longer could raise anything, in view of huge debt he incurred.
“I was already indebted to many people, I have auctioned my car and exhausted all I had; so I simply told him, I had no money to do that anymore” Mohammed Tahir said.
Realizing that he might have pushed his prey to the wall, Dr Suleiman according Tahir later called to say that he was going to do the defence on behalf of the centre.
A recorded telephone conversation obtained by WikkiTimes captured Dr Suleiman pacifying Abdullahi Mohammed Tahir not to worry as fortunes will soon befall the centre. The 27mins audio clip captured Dr Suleiman Shuaibu Shinkafi citing a popular Islamic Scholar in Bauchi as a beneficiary of his intervention.
Appointment on the board of MKYROC
While Dr Shinkafi was deceitfully milking the centre dry, he also requested Abdullahi Muhammed Tahir to appoint him as a board member of MKYROC.
“Not only did he request to join the board, Dr Shinkafi also suggested that we appoint the current minister of Youth and Sports Solomon Dalung and Dr Yusuf Maitama Sule (before his death) on the board of the centre.
This trick as learnt by WikkiTimes is to continuously earn the trust and confidence of officials of the centre.
Confident that Dr Suleiman Shaibu shinkafi was indeed a savior, the organization did not only appoint him as one of its patrons, but also appointed late Dr Yusuf Maitama Sule and Barrister Solomon Dalung, Nigeria’s youth and sport Minister.
Documents obtained by this medium indicate that on the 5th day of February, 2017, the centre wrote a notification letter, appointing Dr Suleiman as its patron. “the appointment is against the background of your sterling international leadership qualities, wisdom, knowledge, exceptional sense of accountability, probity, transparency…” the appointment letter read in part.
The centre issued appointment letters of Dalung and Yusuf Maitama Sule to Dr Shinkafi for onward presentation to them.
Suleiman Shuaibu Shinkafi is an impersonator—Amnesty International Nigeria
When he came calling in bauchi in January, 2017 according to the proprietor of MKYROC Abdullahi Muhammed Tahir, Dr Suleman Shuaibu Shinkafi presented himself as the director Amnesty International for the northern states.
MKYROC’s first official communication with Dr Shinkafi on the 30th of January, 2017, obtained by this medium addressed him as the ‘Director Amnesty International Northern States’, in response to the way he addressed himself.
However, Amnesty International Nigeria office said Dr Suleiman Shuaibu Shinkafi is not their staff, and was never part of them in the past.
WikkiTimes sent an enquiry to the Media Manager of Amnesty International Nigeria Isa Sanusi, and after a week-long follow-ups, the organization described Dr Shinkafi as an impersonator.
Isa Sanusi confirmed to this medium that Dr Shinkafi had never worked with Amnesty International Nigeria, adding that they were currently investigating his activities.
I cannot dispute all their (MKYROC’s) claims—Suleiman Shuaibu Shinkafi
In a ten minute recorded audio conversation, Dr Suleiman Shinkafi acknowledged receiving the two million naira claimed by MYCROC “ I cannot dispute all they have said”.
Dr Shinkafi said he developed cold feet in his transaction with MKYROC after the person constructing the site connived with the centre and sidetracked him.
“I abandoned the idea along the way because the person whom I engaged to construct the site (Adamu Abubakar Sadiq, MD Micro computers, Kaduna) and MKYROC itself betrayed me.”
When asked about the money he collected but failed to deliver anything to the centre, Dr Shinkafi said he was going to call our correspondents for further discussions—a pledge he also failed to honour.
At the beginning of the interview, Dr Shinkafi affirmed to WikkiTimes that he was way back in 2017, the Director Amnesty International in charge of Northern states.
However, when told that the Media Manager of Amnesty International Nigeria, Isa Sanusi had said that he (Dr Shinkafi) is not their staff and was never part of them in the past, Dr Shinkafi fumbled and said he was going to give his own position on the matter when he calls—and he never did.
In the second episode, WikkiTimes shall examine the relationship between Dr Suleiman Shuaibu Shinkafi and Adamu Abubakar Sadiq and how Sadig also dubed the centre of N241,000.