{"id":316732,"date":"2017-05-05T11:55:26","date_gmt":"2017-05-05T11:55:26","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/citifmonline.com\/?p=316732"},"modified":"2017-05-05T11:55:26","modified_gmt":"2017-05-05T11:55:26","slug":"nigerian-officials-jailed-for-selling-food-aid","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/citifmonline.com\/2017\/05\/nigerian-officials-jailed-for-selling-food-aid\/","title":{"rendered":"Nigerian officials jailed for selling food aid"},"content":{"rendered":"
Two Nigerian officials have been jailed for selling food aid meant for people fleeing militant attacks and food shortages in the country’s north-east.<\/p>\n
The two sold 180 bags of rice donated by an international aid agency, the court in Maiduguri, Borno State, heard.<\/p>\n
They were jailed for two years and fined 1m naira ($3,200; \u00a32,500) each.<\/p>\n
More than two million people have been displaced in north-eastern Nigeria where security forces are battling Islamist militant group Boko Haram.<\/p>\n
The prosecution of the two officials was brought by Nigeria’s anti-corruption agency, the EFCC.<\/p>\n
Umar Ibrahim, a local councillor, and Bulama Ali Zangebe, a member of a camp feeding committee, are said to be the first convicted for corruption in relation to food aid in Nigeria since the insurgency began in 2009.<\/p>\n
The rice had been donated by the Danish Refugee Council for victims of insurgency in the town of Mafa, and had been marked as not for sale.<\/p>\n
The two admitted the charges against them but told the court that the rice was about to expire.<\/p>\n