Court sentences man to 5 years in prison for impersonating a customs officer

AN Apapa Magistrates’ Court on Tuesday sentenced a 40-year -old man, Morgan Mohammed, for impersonating an officer of the Nigerian Customs Service (NCS) and defrauding victims of N454,000.

Magistrate T.O Babalola, sentenced Mohammed after he pleaded guilty to three counts of impersonation, stealing and obtaining under false pretence.

“Based on the facts of this case, confirmed the report and the plea of leniency, I hereby sentence you to five years imprisonment with an option to pay back the total sum stolen from the complainants.

”The court also sentences the convict to six months community service for the charge of impersonation,” he ruled.

Earlier the prosecutor, Sgt. Friday Inedu told the court that the convict committed the offence between August and October 2018 at Agip Estate, Satelite Town, Lagos.

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He said that the convict, paraded himself as an NCS officer to Mr Ibewuike Emeka, Ogechi Ezeaka and Musa Dauda, obtained N114,000 on the pretext of getting a job for them.

Inedu said that Mohammed also obtained N340,0000 from Vivian Nweke and Thelma Raji, with a promise to supply 30 bags of rice each to them.

The prosecutor also told the court that the convict stole items worth N113,000 from Raji.

He said that when the complainants discovered that they had been duped by the convict, they reported the matter to the police and Mohammed was arrested for questioning.

He said that the offence contravened the provisions of sections 78, 287 and 314 of the Criminal Law of Lagos State, 2019.