NIMASA DG IS CLEAN, JAMOH MISTAKEN FOR JAMO, WRONGLY ACCUSED 

Abiodun OBA

The Director General of the Nigerian Maritime Administration and Safety Agency (NIMASA), Dr. BASHIR JAMOH, has nothing to do with the alleged whooping N1.5trillion and $9million respectively recently linked to his bank account by an online report (not Security Reporters.com).

The report which was first tweeted by a certain Nigerian journalist, with name, Jackson Ude@Jacksonpbn and later reported on www.pointblanknews.com has been discovered to be a case of mistaken identity.

Investigation revealed that Mr Hamza Ibrahim Jamo , a retired employee of Nigerian National Petroleum Corporation (NNPC) and presently a representative of Talent Enterprise International (TEI) a Dubai-based training firm, was wrongly identified as Dr. Bashir Jamoh of NIMASA.

NIMASA DG’s surname is spelt “JAMOH”. However, that of the individual journalist Ude chatted with is “JAMO”, without the letter ‘H’.

The man Jamo, in question, disclosed to reporters that he retired after 35 years of service, and that his gratuity was paid into the Fidelity Bank account where Ude had reported a humongous sum to the tune of N1.5trillion.

While stating that he never had such a huge amount in his account, he disclosed further that the account has been closed due to activities by fraudulent persons to steal his funds.

Jamo told journalists during telephone chat from his Kaduna base that the Economic and Financial Crimes Commission (EFCC) had invited him between August and September 2019 when plans by criminals to hack into the account and steal his money were discovered.

Jamo, report said, revealed that the anti-graft body arrested the suspected fraudsters in Lagos, Benin and Bauchi in connection with the fraudulent acts which made him to close the alleged account for almost a year.

Following the release of the publication, the Dubai company Jamo represents issued a statement that it never had any business relationship with NIMASA not to talk of coming across its DG, Dr. Bashir Jamoh.

A statement signed by the Chief Executive Officer of Talent Expertise, John Philip, explained: ”I wish to confirm that at no time in the past has TEI had any formal or informal client/supplier relationship with NIMASA. At no time have we ever provided services to or received payment from NIMASA.

“Contrary to the said notification, Dr Bashir has never at any time held any position within TEI and he has never had a role in the formation or running of this company.

“I wish to confirm that Talent Expertise International operating out of Dubai, UAE and Abuja, Nigeria, has no connection with Dr. Bashir Yusuf Jamoh, Director General of NIMASA. 

“Talent Expertise International is being represented by Mr. Hamza Ibrahim Jamo as its local Nigerian Director, a retiree from Nigerian National Petroleum Corporation”.

Recall that Point-blank report had wrongly alleged the NIMASA DG Dr. BASHIR JAMOH of setting up the company, TEI which has also been discovered to be total false.