Justice O.O. Abike-Fadipe of the Special Offences Court in Ikeja has handed down a combined prison sentence of 46 years to Ugwu Pascal Chijioke and Ibrahim Adekunle for impersonating officials of the Economic and Financial Crimes Commission (EFCC) while carrying out a fraudulent court order.
According to a statement released by the anti-graft commission over the weekend, the Lagos Zonal Command of the EFCC re-arraigned the duo on an amended five-count charge, which included charges of impersonation, attempted property acquisition, possession of documents containing false pretenses, and unlawfully wearing EFCC uniforms.
One of the counts stated that on or about May 12, 2021, in Lagos, within the jurisdiction of the court, Chijioke and Adekunle attempted to obtain property from Oriyomi Johnson by falsely claiming that the ‘Chief Magistrate Court, Lagos State Judiciary, Mushin, Lagos’ had issued an order to seize and seal the property at New Horizon Estate, Lekki-Ikate, Lagos, pending Johnson’s arrival. This representation was proven to be false and is an offense punishable under the Advanced Fee Fraud and Other Fraud Related Offences Act, 2006.
Another count charged them with unlawfully wearing EFCC jackets, which is contrary to the Criminal Law of Lagos State, 2011.
Upon hearing the charges, Chijioke and Adekunle pleaded guilty. The prosecuting counsel, Abdulhamid Lamido Tukur, presented the facts of the case and urged the court to convict and sentence the defendants accordingly.
Justice Abike-Fadipe found them guilty on all counts. Chijioke and Adekunle were given an opportunity to address the court and pleaded for mercy.
In her judgment, Justice Abike-Fadipe sentenced each defendant to seven years for counts one to three, one year for count four, and eight months for count five. The sentences will be served concurrently.
The convicts were apprehended in May 2021 during an illegal operation at New Horizon Estate, Lekki, Lagos, following credible intelligence. Among the items recovered were fake EFCC uniforms.
