By Bola Owolola
Justice A.T Mohammed of the Federal High Court, Port Harcourt, has sentenced Tarila Ebizimor to seven years imprisonment for obtaining money under false pretence to the tune of N4million.
The convict, a supervisor in the Security Department of the Niger Delta Development Commission, NDDC, was prosecuted by the Port Harcourt Zonal Office of the Economic and Financial Crimes Commission, EFCC, on a four-count charge.
Ebizimor’s journey to prison began sometime in August, 2013 when he paraded himself as personal assistant of the managing director of the NDDC and obtained the sum of N4million from the petitioner on the pretext that he will help facilitate the award of road construction contract to him.
One of the charges against him reads: “That you Tarila Ebizimor on the 13th day of August, 2013 in Port Harcourt, Rivers State within the jurisdiction of this honorable court did fraudulently obtain the sum of N2,000,000 (Two Million Naira), which said sum was paid into your Fidelity Bank account No. 5330259983, by a means of transfer from God’s Grace Haulage Limited on the pretext that you were to facilitate the award of road construction contract from Niger Delta Development Commission (NDDC), a pretext you know to be false and thereby committed an offence, contrary to Section 1(i)(a) of Advance Fee Fraud and Other Related Offences Act, 2006 and punishable under Section 1(3) of the same Act”.
Also, Justice J. K Daggard of Federal High Court, Kano sentenced Francis Igo to 28 years prison term for defrauding his victims of a total of N850,000.
The convict was prosecuted by the EFCC, Kano Zonal Office on five-count charges that border on conspiracy and obtaining money by trick.
Trouble started for Igo following a petition from Dr.Aliero Shehu Usman, in which he claimed that the convict deceived him into paying the sum of N300,000 as registration fee for a proposed contract. Unknown to the petitioner, the convict had also obtained N550,000 from two other unsuspecting individuals under the same guise.
Upon his arraignment on February 18, 2016 the convict pleaded not guilty to the five-count charge levelled against him by the Commission, thus setting the stage for his trial.
In the course of trial, prosecution counsel, Salihu Sani presented four witnesses and tendered several exhibits to prove his case.
While acquitting the convict on count five, Justice Daggard convicted him on count one, two, three and four, sentencing him to seven years imprisonment on each. The sentences will run concurrently.
The court further ordered the convict to make a restitution of N850,000, being the proceed of crime in favour of his victims.