Maiduguri Zonal Office of the
Economic and Financial Crimes Commission, EFCC, has secured the conviction and
sentencing of Josephine Udeh before Justice Aisha Kumaliya of the Borno State
High Court, sitting in Maiduguri, on a one-count charge of obtaining money by
false pretence to the tune of N5,059,000.
Udeh, who was the Proprietress of
Dala Standard Secondary School, Maiduguri, allegedly collected the said sum as
WAEC registration fees from 284 students of her school and converted it to her
private use.
She however pleaded not guilty
upon her arraignment on Wednesday, April 24, 2019.
In the course of the trial, the
prosecution presented 10 witnesses and 10 exhibits which pushed her to enter
into a plea bargain agreement with the EFCC.
At the resumed hearing on
Wednesday, prosecution counsel, Benjamin Manji, prayed the court to substitute
an earlier charge filed on the April 9, 2019 with an amended charge of the day,
July 31, 2019.
The amended charge reads: “That
you, Josephine Udeh being the director of Dala Standard Secondary School,
Maiduguri, sometime between 2017 and 2018 at Maiduguri, Borno State within the
jurisdiction of this honourable court, did dishonestly misappropriate the sum
of N5,059,000 (Five Million and Fifty-nine Thousand Naira) only, being monies
meant for 2017/2018 WAEC registration fees for 284 students of the said Dala
Standard Secondary School, Maiduguri and thereby committed an offence contrary
to Section 308 of the Penal Code Law cap 102 Laws of Borno State of Nigeria and
Punishable under Section 309 of the same Law.”
She pleaded guilty to the amended
charge in line with the plea bargain agreement she opted for.
Following her guilty plea, the
prosecution counsel prayed the court to convict her as charged.
However, the defence counsel, B.G
Sanda, prayed for leniency and urged the court to temper justice with mercy as
the defendant has already repaid the misappropriated sum.
Consequently, Justice Kumaliya
pronounced her guilty as charged with a fine of N150,000 (One Hundred and Fifty
Thousand Naira) and to spend one year in prison custody in default of the
payment of the fine.
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