Islamic Cleric Jailed For Defrauding US-Based Businesswoman

An Islamic cleric, popularly known as Alfa, Ganiu Awojobi has been sentenced to two years in prison for defrauding a US-based businesswoman, Mrs Oluwatoyin Akinwole, of N37.6 million.

Awojobi was jailed by an Ikeja Special Offences Court.

He was convicted following his re-arraignment after entering into a plea bargain agreement with the Economic and Financial Crimes Commission (EFCC).

Awojobi, who was initially standing trial with a self-acclaimed oil marketer, Olufemi Adesanya, pleaded not guilty to an amended two-count charge of stealing and obtaining money by false pretence.

According to the EFCC, the duo allegedly defrauded Akinwole, leaked her nude pictures on social media and falsely claimed on social media that she had committed suicide by jumping into the Lagos lagoon from the Third Mainland Bridge in 2017.

During the re-arraignment, Awojobi, the second defendant, pleaded guilty but Adesanya, the first defendant, still maintained his initial not guilty plea.

In his plea for mercy, Mr Goddy Osuyi, the defence counsel, told the court that Awojobi had pleaded with Akinwole to accept a four-bedroom flat worth N13 million as compensation.

“Awojobi is now sober and has truly repented,” Osuyi said.

Delivering the judgment, Justice Mojisola Dada said that Awojobi, as part of his plea bargain agreement, had agreed to forfeit the property, a four-bedroom flat that he had acquired as proceed from the fraud.

She noted that the convict was initially arraigned on November 8, 2018 and that the EFCC prosecutor, Mr S.O. Daji, had already called four witnesses to testify against Awojobi.

“You are hereby sentenced to two years imprisonment as agreed in the plea bargain. The prison sentence should begin from the day of his remand by the court on November 8, 2018. This is the judgment of the court,” the judge ruled.

During the trial, Akinwole said that the duo defrauded her of N37.6 million under the pretext of rendering special prayers for her and helping her to invest in crude oil business.

According to the woman, the defendants, after defrauding her, posted her nude pictures which they had extracted from her phone on social media.

She said they had also falsely claimed that she had committed suicide to deter and frustrate her from coming after them and seeking justice.

“My father even suffered stroke after seeing my nude pictures online. They deceived me into believing that I would get a 150 per cent profit after a month of investment.

“They kept extorting money from me with claims that the ports needed more money to perfect the transaction before releasing the oil.

“This made me borrow huge amounts from friends just to make the deal work,” she said.