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By Lizzy Chirkpi
Justice Aisha Kumaliya of the Borno State High Court, sitting in Maiduguri, has convicted and sentenced one Saleh Isa Abdullahi to six months imprisonment for fraud involving N1.34 million.
The conviction followed his arraignment by the Maiduguri Zonal Directorate of the Economic and Financial Crimes Commission (EFCC) on a one-count charge bordering on criminal misappropriation.
The charge reads: “That you, Saleh Isa Abdullahi with National Identification Number 83649788566, sometimes in 2024 at Maiduguri, Borno State within the jurisdiction of this honourable court, dishonestly misappropriated and converted to your own use the aggregate sum of N1,34,000.00 (One Million, Three Hundred and Forty Thousand Naira) money belonging to Faruq Muhammad Ali, being amount given to you for the supply of 100 bags of cement which you converted to your personal use without his consent thereby committed an offence contrary to section 296 of the Penal Code Law and other Matters Connected therewith and punishable under Section 297 of the same law.”
The defendant pleaded “guilty” to the charge.
Following the plea, prosecution counsel, Mukhtar Ali Ahmed, urged the court to convict the defendant accordingly, while defence counsel, A.B Usman, pleaded for leniency, noting that the convict had restituted the money and asking the court to temper justice with mercy.
Justice Kumaliya subsequently sentenced Abdullahi to six months imprisonment, with an option of a N100,000 fine.
The court heard that the offence stemmed from a transaction in which the convict was entrusted with funds to supply 100 bags of cement but instead diverted the money for personal use, leading to his arrest and prosecution by the EFCC.