Justice Aisha Kumaliya of the Borno State High Court, Maiduguri, on Tuesday, October 6, 2020, committed one Ibrahim Mohammed to prison for committing fraud.
The convict was prosecuted by the Maiduguri Zonal Office of the Economic and Financial Crimes Commission, EFCC, on a two-count charge, bordering on cheating to the tune of N2.138,000.00 (Two Million One Hundred and Thirty-eight Thousand Naira).
Count one of the charge read: “That you Ibrahim Mohammed, sometime in January, 2020 at Maiduguri, Borno State, within the jurisdiction of this honourable court, dishonestly induced one Mustapha Saleh to deliver to you the sum of N1, 450,000.00 (One Million Four Hundred and Fifty Thousand Naira) only, being payment for 220 pieces of Airtel SIM cards, purported to have emanated from World Food Programme (WFP), a non-governmental organization, to be used as a means of providing financial assistance to victims of insurgency and thereby committed an offence contrary to Section 320(b) of the Penal Code Law of Borno State Cap. 102 Vol. 3 of 1994 and punishable under Section 322 of the same law.”
He pleaded guilty to the charge, following which prosecution counsel, Haruna Abdulkadir urged the court to convict and sentence him accordingly, while defence counsel A.B Usman, asked the court to temper justice with mercy.
Justice Kumaliya sentenced him to six months imprisonment with N50,000 option of fine on each of the two counts.
Besides the prison term Mohammed will restitute his victim the sum of N2.138,000.00 (Two Million One Hundred and Thirty Eight Thousand Naira), being the proceeds of his crime.