Metro
Court jails 3 civil servants over collection of salaries of 15 ghost workers for 4 years
An FCT High Court on Wednesday, sentenced three civil servants to six years imprisonment each for payroll fraud.
The convicts are Justin Itemoagbo, Dayo Aliyu and Sylvanus Ojeifo.
A fourth officer, Dayang Jacob, was discharged and acquitted.
The Economic and Financial Crimes Commission (EFCC) dragged them to court on a 32-count charge of criminal conspiracy, theft and cheating by impersonation.
Delivering judgement, Justice Peter Kekemeke sentenced them after going through their evidence and that of the prosecution.
“In totality, the evidence of the 1st, 2nd and 3rd defendants collapsed like a pack of cards. I, therefore, find the 1st, 2nd and 3rd defendants guilty as charged. The 4th defendant is found not guilty. He is accordingly discharged and acquitted,” the judge ruled.
All the defendant’s counsel pleaded for leniency and urged the court to tamper justice with mercy and give the convicts option of fine.
Responding, the prosecution submitted that the sentencing is left at the discretion of the court.
The judge held that the plea of all the defendants counsel is moving and that the prosecution relied on the discretion of the court.
The judge said: “The defendants are all approaching 60 years of age. They are aged. They have been out of job for eight years.
“I shall have mercy on them, God does not require the death of a sinner but that all should come unto repentance.
“In count 1, the three defendants are sentenced to 2 years imprisonment or option of N500,000 each.
“In counts 2 to 23, they are to serve another two years on each count or N1 million fine.
“Count 24, 25 and 26 are against the 1st defendant, he is sentenced to one year imprisonment without option of fine in each count.
“The 2nd defendant is sentenced to one year in count 27, 29, 30 and 31 respectively without option of fine.
“For the count 32, the three defendants were sentenced to a year in prison or N500,000 fine.”
The prosecution said they do not know the exact amount of the Federal Government money that was paid as salaries to the defendants.
“In the circumstance, this court cannot order a refund of federal government money paid as salaries,” he said.
The defendants were arraigned in the court for payroll fraud they committed between 2012 and 2015.
They were accused of smuggling about 15 names of either deceased workers or retired ones and collected their salaries every month.
The first defendant worked with human resources department, Federal ministry of works while the second defendant worked at the help desk officers, office of the Accountant General of the Federation.
The third defendant worked at the nominal roll and manpower budget office of the Federal Ministry of Works.
By Mario Deepromoter
Jigawa Police command has confirmed the death of 95 people and 50 got diffident degrees of injuries in Majiya village of Taura local government area in Jigawa.
Confirming that accident, the Jigawa state command Police Public Relations Officer (PPRO), DSP Lawal Shiisu Adams, said, “Today (Wednesday) a Petro Tanker from Porthacourt going to Nguru in Yobe state reached Majiya village of Taura local government area at around 12:30 am the driver lost control at Majiya and it falls”.
The PPRO added; “The content in the Tanker floors and flooded gutters and drainages in the village. Seen that the villagers started fetching the fuel where the petrol going into flame”.
DSP Shiisu disclosed, “As a result, 95 people confirmed died, and 50 have been hospitalised receiving treatment”.
He, therefore, advised the people to distance themselves from a situation of that nature.
Source: ibomfocus
Kwara State Police Command has dismissed three policemen for alleged murder of a student.
The deceased, Qoyum Abdulyekeen Ishola, a student of the Kwara State Polytechnic, Ilorin, was on September 4, this year shot dead by trigger-happy policemen at Fate, Ilorin.
In a statement, the command’s spokesperson, Adetoun Ejire-Adeyemi said after an investigation and an internal disciplinary trial, the three officers –AP/No 233828 INSPR. Abiodun Kayode, AP/No 287410 INSPR. James Emmanuel, and F/No 497868 SGT. Oni Philip – were found guilty of offences ranging from leaving beat, corrupt practices to unlawful or unnecessary exercise of authority.
“Consequently, they have been dismissed from the Nigeria Police Force, with effect from 4th October, 2024,’’ he added.
They would be arraigned in court soon, he said.
By Francesca Hangeior
A 45-year-old man, simply identified as Kazeem, has drowned in a river at Odo Tente, a boundary community between Lagos and Ogun States.
It was gathered that the incident occurred on Friday around 11 am.
Before the incident, Kazeem was said to have taken a hard drug suspected to be Colorado.
The deceased, who soon started to act under the influence of the drug, reportedly ran uncontrollably and jumped into the river.
The Lagos State Police Public Relations Officer, Benjamin Hundeyin, while confirming the incident in a statement on Sunday, stated that he drowned in the process.
The statement read, “On 11/10/2024 at about 11 am, a complainant reported at Alagbado Division that one Kazeem, ‘M’ aged 45, under the influence of a hard drug suspected to be Colorado, ran uncontrollably and jumped into a river at Odo Tente boundary between Lagos and Ogun State.
Sequel to this, the victim drowned and died.”
Hundeyin further stated that detectives from the Alagbado Division visited the scene and took photographs of the deceased.
The police spokesman added that the father of the deceased, when contacted, directed that the corpse be buried immediately by the riverside according to their tradition.
He, however, noted that the police had commenced an investigation into the incident.
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