Troops from the Forward Operating Base (FOB) in Potiskum, Yobe have apprehended a suspect for smuggling government farm machinery and inputs out of the state.
The arrest was made along the Potiskum-Gombe road in the early hours of Tuesday.
According to Dahiru Abdulsalam, Special Adviser on Security Matters to the Yobe Governor, the suspect, Mallam Isah Ibrahim, was caught with 19 seed planters concealed in a bus with registration number KTG 449 YG.
The items were meant for the Yobe State Agricultural Empowerment Programme.
The suspect, a 43-year-old man from Jigawa, claimed he purchased the items from Alhaji Babaji in Damaturu for ₦50,000 each.
However, he had no allocation letter or proof of being a beneficiary of the programme.
The suspect and the recovered items have been handed over to the Yobe State Command of the Nigeria Security and Civil Defense Corps (NSCDC) for further action.
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