Ekiti court sentences ACP, technician to life over stolen vehicle

Ibadan EFCC gets one convicted for fraud
An Ekiti State High Court sitting in Ado Ekiti has sentenced an Assistant Commissioner of Police (ACP), Okubo Aboye, 57, and his technician, Niyi Ibrahim Afolabi, 39, to life imprisonment for receiving stolen vehicle from kidnap suspects.

It also jailed seven others, Solomon Ayodele Obamoyegun, 39; Femi Omiawe, 40; Damilola Obamoyegun, 20; Bose Sade Ajayi, 30; George Lucky, 35; Chukwuma Nnamani, 22; and Sunday Ogunleye, 45; five years each without an option of fine for kidnapping.

ACP Aboye was serving in the state command when he allegedly committed the crime.

In their testimony, the investigating police officers said the car was tracked to Aboye, who confessed to have bought the stolen Hilux van from his technician, an offence that ran contrary to Sections 346(2), 1(2) a and Section 5 of the Criminal Code Cap C16 Laws of Ekiti State, 2012 and the Robbery and Firearms Special Provisions Act, Cap R11, Laws of the Federation of Nigeria, 2004.

Ruling, Justice John Adeyeye found the duo guilty and sentenced them accordingly.

To prove the his case, the prosecutor, Felix Awoniyi, called seven witnesses and tendered exhibits, including statements of the accused persons and bond to release the van to the owner.

According to the charge, the offence was committed on between May 9 and 19, 2005 at GRA, Ado Ekiti, when the first to seventh accused, kidnapped one Moses Ajogri, 40, and robbed him of his Toyota Hilux van with Reg. No. APP 509 BK.

Justice Adeyeye held: “Kidnapping people for ransom is very rampart in not only the state but in Nigeria as a whole.

“The court will be failing in its duty to protect the members of the society if adequate punishment is not given to the accused persons.”

ALSO, the Ibadan zonal office of Economic and Financial Crimes Commission (EFCC), yesterday, secured the conviction of one Oteyowo Akinkunmi Samuel for internet-related fraud.

Justice Nathaniel Ayo-Emmanuel of the Federal High Court sitting in Osogbo, Osun State, pronounced the 32-year-old, who claimed to be a graduate of civil engineering, guilty of a one-count amended charge of criminal impersonation and handed him 14 months custodial sentence.

The crime offended Section 22(2) (b) (ii) of the Cyber Crimes (Prohibition, Prevention Etc) Act, 2015 and punishable under Section 22 (2) of same law.

He was charged for defrauding one Warren Doht, an American, of N19,664,128.50

The convict had, however, approached anti-graft agency for a plea bargain, which formed the basis for the amended charge with which he was arraigned and convicted of.

After pleading guilty to the amended charge, prosecution counsel, Murtala Usman, urged the court to convict him accordingly.

Apart from the jail term, the court also ordered Oteyowo to restitute the money.