AISHA Alkali Wakil, also known as Mama Boko Haram, was again, on Wednesday, December 21, convicted for fraud by Justice Aisha Kumaliya of the Borno State High Court, sitting in Maiduguri.
She was convicted alongside Tahiru Saidu Daura and Prince Lawal Shoyade.
The accused persons were sentenced to 10 years imprisonment for conspiracy, cheating and obtaining N120,500,000.00 by false pretence.
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This was disclosed on Thursday, December 22, in a statement signed by Economic and Financial Crimes Commission (EFCC) spokesperson Wilson Uwujaren. The statement was made available to The ICIR.
This is the third time Mama Boko Haram will be sentenced in as many months.
The Maiduguri Zonal Command of the EFCC arraigned the defendants on December 8, 2021, on five counts of amended charges.
The defendants pleaded “not guilty” to the charges.
In the course of the trial, the prosecuting counsel, Mukhtar Ali Ahmed, called seven witnesses, including Shehu Usman, an investigator with the EFCC, who testified that “Complete and Aid Care Foundation (a Non-Governmental Organization) was run as a Ponzi scheme, by robbing Peter to Pay Paul”.
After the prosecution closed its case on March 16, 2020, the defendants chose to file a no-case submission, which the court dismissed on September 27, 2021.
Delivering judgment, Justice Kumaliya held that the prosecution proved its case against the defendants beyond a reasonable doubt.
“The court hereby finds you, Aisha Alkali Wakil, Tahiru Alhaji Saidu Daura, Prince Lawal Shoyade, guilty and convicted you as charged”, the judge ruled.
Justice Kumaliya sentenced them on the first count to seven years imprisonment and ten years on the second count.
On the third count, the judge sentenced the defendants to five years imprisonment. The sentences are to run concurrently.
The judge ordered the convicts to jointly restitute the sum of N66 million to the nominal complainant or serve an additional seven years of jail each.
In August 2022, the Maiduguri Zonal Command of EFCC secured the conviction and sentencing of Aisha Wakil, Tahiru Saidu Daura and Prince Lawal Shoyede on a three-count charge of conspiracy and stealing to the tune of N66 million.
Again, in October 2022, the court convicted Mama Boko Haram and the other defendants for N34 million fraud.
A reporter with the ICIR
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