Court sentences ex-convict to 28 years in jail for impersonation, cyber fraud

Justice Mahmud Abdulgafar of the Kwara State High Court in Ilorin has convicted a 29-year-old ex-convict, Joshua Ajayi Oluwatobi, for impersonating the Dean Student Affairs, University of Ilorin and others to scam unsuspecting students seeking to pay school fees and hostel accommodation.

The Ilorin Zonal Command of the Economic and Financial Crimes Commission (EFCC) had on Tuesday, November 23, 2021, arraigned Oluwatobi on a four-count charge bordering on fraud, attempt to defraud and impersonation, to which he pleaded guilty.

Oluwatobi had sometime in June 2020 been convicted by Justice Sikiru Oyinloye of the Kwara State High Court for a similar offence.

After spending time at Mandala Correctional Centre, the convict went back to the crime and was again arrested by operatives of the EFCC and brought before the court for justice.

Following the plea of guilt entered by the defendant, counsel to the EFCC, Andrew Akoja, presented a witness, one Musa Muhmmad Sani, an operative of the EFCC, through whom he reviewed the facts of the case and presented documents to establish the culpability of the defendant in the crime.

Akoja urged the court to consider the uncontroverted evidence of the prosecution before it, the admittance of guilt by the defendant and convict the defendant as charged.

Delivering judgement, Justice Abdulgafar said the material evidence placed before the court has shown that the prosecution had proved its case beyond a reasonable doubt.

The judge pronounced Oluwatobi guilty of the four counts and sentenced him to seven years imprisonment on each count, to run concurrently. The court also ordered the convict to restitute his victims.

YOU SHOULD NOT MISS THESE HEADLINES FROM NIGERIAN TRIBUNE

We Have Not Had Water Supply In Months ― Abeokuta Residents

In spite of the huge investment in the water sector by the government and international organisations, water scarcity has grown to become a perennial nightmare for residents of Abeokuta, the Ogun State capital. This report x-rays the lives and experiences of residents in getting clean, potable and affordable water amidst the surge of COVID-19 cases in the state.

Selfies, video calls and Chinese documentaries: The things you’ll meet onboard Lagos-Ibadan train

The Lagos-Ibadan railway was inaugurated recently for a full paid operation by the Nigerian Railway Corporation after about a year of free test-run. Our reporter joined the train to and fro Lagos from Ibadan and tells his experience in this report…