N71.4m fraud: Court jails ‘Mama Boko Haram’, 2 others

The Borno State High Court sitting in Maiduguri has convicted and sentenced Aisha Alkali Wakil, popularly known as Mama Boko Haram, alongside Tahiru Saidu Daura and Prince Lawal Shoyode to five years imprisonment for N71.4 million fraud.

The judgment was the climax of a process that commenced on Monday, September 14, 2020, when the defendants were re-arraigned by the Economic and Financial Crimes Commission (EFCC) before Justice Aisha Kumaliya on a two count charge of conspiracy and obtaining money by false pretence to the tune of N71,400,000

Count one of the charges read: “That you, Aisha Alkali Wakil, Tahiru Saidu Daura and Prince Lawal Shoyode, whilst being chief executive officer, programme manager and country director respectively of Complete Care and Aid Foundation (a non-governmental organisation), sometime in the year 2018 at Maiduguri, Borno State, within the jurisdiction of this Honourable Court with intent to defraud, induced one Saleh Ahmed Said of Shuad General Enterprises Ltd to deliver to you 3,000 (Three Thousand) bags of beans worth N71,400,000 (Seventy-One Million, Four Hundred Thousand Naira only), under the false pretence of executing a contract for the supply of same, which you made the said Saleh Ahmed Said to believe that you had the capacity to pay the entire contract sum upon execution, which you knew to be false and you thereby committed an offence, contrary to and punishable under Sections 1(1) (b) and 1(3) of the Advance Fee Fraud and Other Fraud Related Offences Act, 2006.”

The defendants pleaded “not guilty” to the charges.

In the course of trial, the prosecution counsel, Mukhtar Ali Ahmed, presented four witnesses and tendered several documents which were admitted as exhibits.

Delivering judgement on Tuesday, Justice Kumaliya held that the prosecution had proved the case against the defendants and consequently pronounced them guilty as charged.

The presiding judge, therefore, sentenced Mama Boko Haram and two other defendants to five years imprisonment without an option of fine.

Justice Kumaliya further ordered the convicts to pay the sum of N30.5 million as compensation to their victim, saying in default, they shall serve an additional ten years prison term.

The Star