Man bags 18 months for impersonating EFCC operative

A Federal High Court sitting in Lagos yesterday sentenced two men, Kolawole Azeez and Ajadi Olarenwaju Tajudeen to seven years imprisonment, for unlawful dealing in prohibited drugs.

The trial judge, Daniel Osiagor convicted and sentenced them after Azeez and Olanrewaju pleaded guilty to a four-count charge brought against them by the National Drug Law Enforcement Agency (NDLEA).

The anti-drug agency had through its prosecutor, Marian Erondu, arraigned the two on charges bordering on conspiracy, storage of 11.3 kilogrammes of Cannabis sativa popularly called marijuana, 33 grammes of Molly and unlawful dealing in the same drug.

Erondu told the court that the offences were contrary to the provision of sections 14(b); 12 and 11(c) of the National Drug Law Enforcement Agency ACT Cap N.30 Laws of the Federal Republic of Nigeria 2004.

The convicts pleaded guilty to all the counts.

Following their guilty plea, the prosecutor urged the court to allow her to review the facts of the case and tendered all exhibits.

The court, therefore, admitted the exhibits and the prosecutor urged the court to convict them in accordance with sections 274(2) & 356(2) of the Administration of Criminal Justice Act ACJA 2015.

However, in his allocutus, the defence counsel, Oke Ojakovo, pleaded with the court to temper justice with mercy in sentencing his clients.

The counsel told the court that the first defendant is a family man with four children, while the second defendant is a family man with two children.

He pleaded with the court to give them a non-custodial sentence or an option of a fine.

Justice Osiagor, after confirming that the convicts were first-time offenders, sentenced them to seven years imprisonment on each of the counts.

The judge ordered that the jail terms to run concurrently,

He also ordered them to pay a fine option of N500, 000, on each of the counts, adding that the fine option should also run concurrently.

RELATEDLY, Justice Rahman Oshodi of a Lagos Special Offences Court has sentenced a man, Tobi Paul-Augustine to 18 months in prison for impersonating an operative of the Economic and Financial Crimes Commission (EFCC).

The judge sentenced Paul-Augustine to 18-month jail term after he pleaded guilty to the charge of impersonation brought against him by the EFCC.

In his judgment, Justice Oshodi said that he has considered the severity of the offence, holding that the defendant’s actions undermined public confidence in the EFCC, as a vital law enforcement agency.

The judge held, “Section 380 of the Criminal Law prescribes a punishment of three years imprisonment for the offence of impersonation.

“Your actions impersonating an EFCC operative severely undermine public confidence in a crucial law enforcement institution. In mitigation, I note that you pleaded guilty at the first opportunity, thereby saving judicial time and you cooperated with law enforcement by providing a confessional statement, and you are a first-time offender.”

Justice Oshodi having carefully weighed evidence, therefore sentenced him to 18 months imprisonment, being half of the prescribed sentence.

The judge ordered that the sentence should commence on August 10, 2024, the date of his remand.

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