FUT Minna student jailed for ‘posing as white woman’

The Kwara state high court sitting in Ilorin has jailed a 23-year-old student of Federal University of Technology (FUT) Minna identified as Mohammed Bello for cheating by personation.

Adenike Akinpelu, the judge who presided over the case, sentenced him to 12 months in jail on Wednesday.

Bello, who hails from Ilorin West LGA of Kwara state, was alleged to have posed as a white female with the intent to defraud unsuspecting victims.

The defendant was prosecuted on a two-count charge by the Ilorin zonal command of the Economic and Financial Crimes Commission (EFCC).

The EFCC arrested Bello alongside other suspected fraudsters at Agric Estate, Sango area of Ilorin on April 22, 2022.

The defendant did not only admit to committing the crime but pleaded guilty to the charge upon arraignment.

Following his guilty plea, Andrew Akoja, counsel to the EFCC, reviewed the facts of the case through its operative.

The EFFC witness tendered the extra-judicial statements of the defendant, one apple iPhone Xr, and fraudulent messages printed from his device.

Akoja urged the court to hold that the prosecution had established the necessary ingredients of the alleged crime against the defendant to warrant his conviction.

Akinpelu said that she was convinced that the prosecution had proved its case.

The judge pronounced Bello guilty of the offence.

Consequently, the judge sentenced the defendant to six months imprisonment with N150,000 as the option of fine on count one and six months imprisonment with N100,000 as the option of fine on count two.

Akinpelu ordered the forfeiture of the apple iPhone Xr, which was used to perpetrate the crime and the sum of $25 which the convict benefited from the unlawful activities to the federal government.