A Borno State High Court sitting in Maiduguri has convicted one Allen Abel to a cumulative term of 125 years in prison for fraudulently obtaining bags of rice and Spaghetti cartons valued at N12, 879,800.
Wilson Uwujaren, the Economic Financial Crimes Commission (EFCC) Head of Media and Publicity disclosed this in a statement emailed to The ICIR on Wednesday.
According to the statement, Alen falsely acquired the fund on the pretext of executing a fake contract for the Federal Ministry of Humanitarian Affairs, Disaster Management and Social Development under the School Feeding Social Intervention Programme (SIP) of the Federal Government.
The anti-graft agency arraigned him before Justice Aisha Kumaliya on Thursday, July 2 alongside Suleiman Adamu, Usman Adamu and Kingsley Madubuagu on 20 count charges bordering on forgery, possession of false documents, impersonation and obtaining by false pretence.
Uwujaren stated that one of the charges upon which Abel was convicted read that he obtained ‘the 1313 cartons of spaghetti and 480 bags of rice both worth N12, 110,000.00 from one Lelle Hyelwa Sini of Lelle Foresight Construction Co. Ltd. under the false pretence of executing a contract of supply of food items, purportedly awarded by the Federal Ministry of Humanitarian Affairs Disaster’.
The EFCC spokesperson noted that Abel pleaded guilty to the 20 count charges upon arraignment and Justice Kumaliya convicted him accordingly and adjourned to September 30 for sentencing.
“At the resumed hearing on Wednesday, September 30, Justice Kumaliya sentenced Abel to seven years imprisonment each on counts 1 to 6, and 9 without an option of fine; five years imprisonment each on counts 7, 8 and 11-20 respectively without an option of fine. All sentences are to run consecutively,” EFCC stated.
The Judge further ruled that the convict is to restitute to Lele Foresight Construction Company the total sum of N12, 110,000 and HIE Global Investment Limited the sum of N769,800.
This is coming barely 24 hours after the Commission secured the conviction of Oreoluwa Adesakin, a former staff of FirstBank of Nigeria Limited, who was sentenced to a cumulative 98 years in prison.
Lukman Abolade is an Investigative reporter with The ICIR. Reach out to him via [email protected], on twitter @AboladeLAA and FB @Correction94