Ugwu Chijioke and Ibrahim Adekunle, two men who impersonated members of the Economic and Financial Crimes Commission (EFCC), have bagged a 46-year jail term.
The anti-graft agency revealed this in a statement released on Sunday.
The two were taken into custody in May 2021 at New Horizon Estate in Lekki, Lagos, after the commission received reliable information.
At the time of their arrest, they were spotted conducting an unlawful operation with fake EFCC identity cards, coats.
On October 12, 2021, the Lagos Zonal Command of the EFCC subsequently arraigned them on a five-count charge that was later amended to include impersonation, attempted property fraud, possession of false documents, and wearing the EFCC uniform unlawfully.
The suspects entered a guilty plea to the charges after being arraigned before Justice O.O. Abike-Fadipe of the Special Offenses Court in Ikeja.
Following their admission of guilt, Abdulhamid Tukur, the prosecution’s attorney, reviewed the case facts, and asked the judge to impose the appropriate sentences.
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They were found guilty on counts one, two, three, four, and five as charged by Justice Abike-Fadipe.
When granted a chance to speak before the court, the defendants begged for forgiveness.
The defendants were further sentenced to seven years on counts one through three, one year on count four, and eight months on count five by Abike-Fadipe, who delivered the verdict.
“That you, Ugwu Pascal Chijioke and Ibrahim Sadiq Adekunle, on or about the 12th day of May, 2021 in Lagos, within the jurisdiction of this Honourable Court, by false pretence and with intent to defraud, attempted to obtain property from one Oriyomi Johnson under the pretext that the “Chief Magistrate Court, Lagos State Judiciary, Mushin, Lagos” issued an Order to the effect that the property located at New Horizon Estate, Lekki- Ikate, Lagos be seized and the said apartment sealed pending the arrival of the said Oriyomi Johnson ,which representation you knew to be false and committed an offence of attempt to obtain property by false pretense contrary to Sections 8(b) of the Advanced Fee Fraud and Other Fraud Related Offences Act, 2006 and punishable under Section11(3) of the same Act,” one of the counts read.
Another reads, “That you, Ugwu Pascal Chijioke and Ibrahim Sadiq Adekunle, on or about the 12th day of May, 2021 in Lagos, within the jurisdiction of this Honourable Court not being a person holding any office in or authority of the Economic and Financial Crimes Commission, wore a jacket bearing the official mark of the Commission ,which was calculated to convey the impression that you held such authority and committed an offence of unlawfully wearing the uniform of the Economic and Financial Crimes Commission contrary to Section 79(1) (b) of the Criminal Law of Lagos State, 2011.”
