Five bag jail terms for financial crimes in Kaduna

Justices R.M.Aikawa and A. Isiaka of the Federal and State High Courts, respectively, sitting in Kaduna have convicted and sentenced the quintet of David Dawaza Gafara, Abraham Emmanuel Kazachang, Muhammed Umar Faruk, Aliyu Ibrahim Oyibo and

David Eddy Akang to jail for financial crimes.

They were prosecuted by Kaduna Zonal Directorate of the Economic and Financial Crimes Commission, EFCC on a separate one-count charge.

While Gafara, Kazachang, Faruk and Oyibo were prosecuted before Justice Aikawa for offences that border on impersonation and cybercrime, Akang was dragged before Justice Isiaka for theft to the tune of N1 million.

The charge against Gafara reads: ” That you David Dawaza Gafara (a.k.a Meshaa Renee), (m) between January and April, 2025 at Bida, Niger State within the jurisdiction of this Honourable Court, falsely presented yourself as Meshaa Renee on Facebook (an online social media application), and in that assumed character attempted to gain advantage for yourself and thereby committed an offence contrary to Section 27 (1) (a) of the Cybercrimes Prohibition Prevention Etc Act, 2015 and punishable under Section 22(2) (b) (iv) of the same Act”.

That of Akang reads: “That you, David Eddy Akang “m” sometimes in May, 2021 within the jurisdiction of this Honourable Court dishonestly took out of the possession of Susan Okafor the sum of N1,000,000.00 (One Million, Naira) only from her account number 0074736651, domiciled at Sterling Bank Plc without her consent and you thereby committed the offence of theft contrary to Section 270(1) of the Kaduna State Penal Code Law, 2017 and punishable under Section 271 of the same Law”.

They all pleaded “guilty” to their charge when they were read to them, following which prosecution counsel M.U Gadaka and Moses Arumemi prayed the courts to convict and sentence them accordingly.

Justice Aikawa sentenced Gafara and Kazachang to three years imprisonment or to pay N500,000 fine. In addition, Gafara forfeited a Samsung Galaxy S10 while Kazachang forfeited iPhone 16 Plus, being the tools of their crimes to the federal government.

He convicted and sentenced Faruk to two years imprisonment or to pay N300,000.00 (Three Hundred Thousand Naira) fine. In addition, he forfeited iPhone XS Max, a Tecno Pop 7 and Tecno mobile phone, being the instruments of his crime to the federal government.

He convicted and sentenced Oyibo to five years imprisonment or to pay N300,000.00 (Three Hundred Thousand Naira) fine. In addition, he forfeited iPhone 15 Pro, Samsung Galaxy S23 and HP Spectre laptop computer, being the instruments of his crime to the federal government.

Gafara, Kazachang, Faruk and Oyibo were arrested in Rogota, Bida Local Government Area of Niger State, following actionable intelligence that exposed their fraudulent internet activities.

Akang on his part was convicted and sentenced to two years imprisonment by Justice Isiaka or to pay N300,000 fine.

His road to jail was paved by the petition of one Okafor Nnenna Susan to the Commission, alleging that the convict, being her boyfriend, stole her father’s ATM card as well as hers and fraudulently withdrew sums of money from her account. Investigation by the Commission revealed that Akang withdrew the sum of N1million from the petitioner’s bank account through a PoS vendor.