Kano emir intervenes as women scammed over N500m protest

The Emir of Kano, Alhaji Aminu Ado Bayero, has promised to look into the issue of an alleged scam by business women against a woman, Halima Ibrahim, popularly known as Leema, who the said collected over N500 million from them for a joint order of household items from overseas which she did not deliver.

Alhaji Aminu made the promise while addressing women who staged a peaceful protest to his palace to express their grievance, assuring them that the Kano Emirate Council would do everything possible within its powers to ensure justice for them.

The emir directed a representative of his council to approach the Shari’a court at Kofar Kudu presided over by Khadi Ibrahim Sarki Yola to investigate the issue raised by the group.

City & Crime reports that trouble started when a large percentage of the goods ordered were not delivered and when the women requested refund, Leema rushed to the Sharia’a court in Kofar Kudu to get a restraining order against the group.

One of the women, Maryam Uba Jalli, noted that some of them were divorced by their husbands, others arrested while many had lost their lives due to tension.

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She noted that the money given to Leema was sourced from customers with the promise that goods would be given to them after a few months, saying that the promise could not be fulfilled after two years.

She further said, “Leema later demanded a clearance fee after placing the order, claiming that the uncleared goods would be sold off if the fee was not received within a short period.

“Leema kept pledging to distribute the goods but after some months it became obvious that she defrauded us. All efforts to get our money back proved abortive.”

They expressed satisfaction with the warm reception by the emir and also appealed to Governor Abdullahi Umar Ganduje to come to their aid.

The women, over 400 of them, alleged that they paid huge amounts of money to Leema who opened a WhatsApp group of 30 women multiple times to receive orders for toys and household items from China and other countries.