SPOTLIGHTS

• Two men were sentenced for impersonating EFCC operatives
• They used fake documents and attire to attempt property seizure
• The incident occurred at the New Horizon Estate in Lekki, Lagos
• The convicts pleaded guilty to a five-count charge
• The court sentenced them to a total of 46 years imprisonment

By John Ogunsemore, Lagos

The duo of Ugwu Pascal Chijioke and Ibrahim Sadiq Adekunle have been sentenced to 46 years imprisonment by a Lagos court for impersonating operatives of the Economic and Financial Crimes Commission (EFCC) while executing a fake court order.

Justice O.O. Abike-Fadipe of the Special Offences Court sitting in Ikeja sentenced the convicts, the EFCC said in a statement published on Facebook.

The Lagos Zonal Command of the EFCC re-arraigned the duo on an amended five-count charge bordering on impersonation, attempt to obtain property, possession of documents containing false pretence and unlawfully wearing the uniform of the EFCC.

One of the counts 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, 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 pretence 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.”

Another count 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.”

They pleaded guilty to the charges when they were read to them.

Following their guilty pleas, the prosecution counsel, Abdulhamid Lamido Tukur, gave a review of the facts of the case to prove the guilt of the defendants.

Tukur, thereafter, urged the court to convict the defendants as charged and sentence them accordingly.

Justice Abike-Fadipe found them guilty as charged on counts one, two, three, four and five.

The defendants, who were given an opportunity to address the court, pleaded for mercy.

Delivering judgment, Justice Abike-Fadipe sentenced the defendants each to seven years on counts one to three each, one year on count four and eight months on count five.

The sentences are to run concurrently.

The EFCC said the convicts were arrested sometime in May 2021, following credible intelligence received by the commission, while they were in the middle of an illegal operation at the New Horizon Estate, Lekki, Lagos.

“Items recovered from them at the point of arrest included fake EFCC identity cards, jackets, and a court order purported to have emanated from Mushin Magistrate Court.

“They were subsequently arraigned on October 12, 2021, an amended five-count charge, to which they initially pleaded not guilty,” the anti-graft commission said.