Story from Kenneth AFOR, Lagos
A High Court sitting in Ilorin on Thursday sentenced Yakubu Azeez Afolayan, a self-styled customs officer, to 20 years imprisonment for impersonation and job scam.
Afolayan was sentenced by Justice Mahmood Abdulgafar of Kwara State High Court.
The convict, who posed as a Customs Officer, allegedly swindled job seekers under the guise of helping them secure employment into the Nigeria Customs Service (NCS) before the law caught up with him.
The 34-year-old Afolayan from Share in Ifelodun Local Government Area of Kwara State was arraigned on March 14, 2019, on a four-count charge by the Ilorin Zonal Office of the Economic and Financial Crimes Commission, EFCC.
One of the charges read: “That you, Yakubu Azeez Afolayan, between the months of November 2018 and January 2019 in Ilorin, within the jurisdiction of this Honourable Court, with the intent to defraud, obtained the gross sum of N267,000 (Two Hundred and Sixty-seven Thousand Naira) only from one Usman Janet Opeyemi through your UBA account number under the false pretence that you are capable of securing employment for her son with the Nigerian Customs Service; the representation you knew to be false and thereby committed an offence contrary to Section 1 (a) of the Advance Fee Fraud and Other Fraud Related Offences Act, 2006 and punishable under Section 1 (3) of the same Act.”
He pleaded “not guilty” to the counts, leading to his full trial.
In the course of the trial spanning two years, the prosecution provided four witnesses, including one of his victims; an officer from the Nigeria Customs Service and the Investigating Officer, who is an operative of the EFCC.
Documents were tendered by the prosecution through the witnesses and admitted in evidence by the court.
In his judgment on Thursday, Justice Abdulgafar stated that based on the evidence presented before the court, the prosecution had proved its case beyond reasonable doubt.
“It is very clear from the totality of the evidence of PW1 – PW4 that the prosecution has proved its case beyond reasonable doubts. It was the evidence of PW1 that the Nigerian Customs Service does not sell its recruitment forms to job applicants, but the defendant was collecting various sum of money from his victims as application fees. All this evidence were not challenged or controverted by the defendant”, said the judge.
He further said, “Another aspect to be considered in this case is the statements made by the defendant while he was in the custody of the EFCC. The statements were made voluntarily and he (Yakubu) confessed to the crime.”
While evaluating other documents Justice Abdulgafar said, “The statements of account of the defendant is additional evidence in this case. The statements showed how monies were deposited into his account domiciled with the UBA by several job seekers.”
The judge said: “It is the opinion of this Honourable Court that the case of the prosecution has merit.”
Yakubu’s counsel, S. O Ishola, however, urged the court to temper justice with mercy saying that “the convict is a first time offender”.
Responding, counsel to the EFCC, Andrew Akoja, drew the attention of the court to Section 1(a) and 1(3) of the Advance Fee Fraud and Other Fraud Related Offences Act, 2006, which prescribed a maximum of seven years imprisonment for the offence for which the defendant was charged on counts one and two.
Akoja further told the court to consider Section 386 of the Penal Code Law, which prescribed a maximum of three years imprisonment for the offences on counts 3 and 4.
Consequently, Justice Abdulgafar said there was nothing the court could do than to follow the provisions of the law in sentencing the convict.
“I hereby sentence you, Yakubu Azeez Afolayan to 7 years imprisonment on count 1; 7 years imprisonment on count 2; 3 years imprisonment on count 3 and 3 years imprisonment on count 4, to run concurrently”, the judge ruled.
“The convict is to spend his custodial sentence at Mandala Correctional Centre with effect from November 14, 2019,” he added.
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