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A 42-year-old pastor named Anjorin Adaniki, and an Islamic cleric, Maliu Aliu, have been sentenced to one year imprisonment each for diverting N9 million worth of fertilisers meant to be distributed to farmers in Ekiti State.

The duo were arraigned on Thursday for converting 1,800 bags of fertilisers meant to be sold at subsidized rate to farmers, to their personal businesses and were sentenced by an Ado-Ekiti Magistrate Court. The Prosecutor, Oriyomi Akinwale, who tried the accused persons, told the court that they committed the offence between May and June 2013 at Emure-Ekiti.

Akinwale said, “The fertilisers were given by the government in three trailers to ease the farmers’ difficulties, but the accused persons fraudulently diverted them. “The accused persons on the said months, fraudulently converted 1,800 bags of fertilisers which was meant to be distributed to Ekiti farmer in Emure local government area at subsidized rate of N2,750 per bag and they sold to the farmers at the rate of N3, 500 per bag which all valued at the rate of N 9 million.” According to the prosecutor, the offence contravened Section 1(3) of the Advanced Free Fraud and other Related Offences Act, 2006.

Ademola Okeya, the duo’s counsel, pleaded with the court to tamper Justice with mercy passing sentences on his clients, praying the court to be lenient in judgment. The Presiding Magistrate, Bayode Owoeye, described the action of the accused persons in converting the fertilizers meant for the poor farmers to their own use against the order of the government price to the farmers as callous.

Owoeye, however, sentenced them to one year imprisonment each without an option of fine.

In the same vein, The Economic and Financial Crimes Commission, EFCC, said it has arrested the trio of Yakubu Dankaba (aka Yakubu Hamisu), Yahaya Baba and Usman Abdulhakeem (aka Chairman) at Area 3 of Garki District, Abuja for their involvement in a N20 million fraud.

According to a statement signed by the spokesperson of the EFCC, Wilson Uwujaren, the suspects allegedly posed as operatives of the EFCC with the aim of extorting N20 million from the FCT Water Board director. They had written a letter to him, purported to be from the EFCC, and notified him of being under investigation. They however, offered to help him quash the investigation, if he could part with the sum of N20 million.

Uwujaren noted that while suspecting that he was about to be swindled, the director alerted the EFCC, which swung into action, and caught the three suspects in their own web of tricks. They will be charged to court as soon as investigations are completed. He however reiterated that the EFCC has consistently warned members of the public to desist from offering money to persons claiming to be officials of the Commission and trying to interfere with ongoing investigations by the Commission. Solicitation for gratification by both fake and genuine officers of the agency should be reported to any office of the EFCC in the zones or the nearest police station.