Justice Olubunmi Abike-Fadipe of the Lagos Special Offences Court, Ikeja, on Thursday sentenced two men, Ugwu Chijioke and Ibrahim Adekunle, to 22 years imprisonment for impersonating officials of the Economic and Financial Crimes Commission (EFCC).
The sentence followed the convicts’ plea bargain agreement to the five-count charge of impersonation, attempt to obtain property, possession of documents containing false claims and unlawfully wearing the EFCC uniform filed by the commission.
The judge sentenced them to seven years each on count one to three, one year on count four, and eight months on count five.
She, however, ordered that the sentences should run concurrently.
Earlier, the EFCC counsel, Mr. Abdulhamid Tukur, in his review of facts, urged the court to convict the defendants as charged and sentenced accordingly.
Tukur said the defendants had in their possession false documents to impersonate officials of the EFCC and extort unsuspecting members of the public.
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He said the items recovered from the defendants at the point of arrest included fake EFCC identity cards, jackets, and a court order purported to have emanated from Mushin Magistrate Court.
The convicts, in their plea for mercy, urged the court to temper justice with mercy and promised never to go to their vomit again.
“I am very sorry for the crime I pleaded guilty to, having been in the correctional facility for over a year now, have learnt a lot.
“I am very sorry and I beg the EFCC to forgive me and I will never go back to any crime.
“I plead with the court to temper justice with mercy,” the first defendant had said.
“My lord, I’m already guilty of this case and I beg this court to temper justice with mercy
“I also beg the EFCC to forgive me,” the second defendant stated.
According to the EFCC, the offences contravened Sections 8(b), 11(3) of the Advanced Fee Fraud and Other Fraud Related Offences Act, 2006, and Section 79(1) (b) of the Criminal Law of Lagos State, 2011.
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