The Independent Corrupt Practices and Other Related Offences Commission (ICPC) has secured the conviction of Solomon Ogodo, a superintendent of the Nigerian Security and Civil Defence Corps (NSCDC), for forgery, employment racketeering, and fraud.
Demola Bakare, ICPC’s director of public enlightenment and education, who confirmed the conviction, said Ogodo was found guilty of defrauding job seekers of a total of N12.2 million by promising them employment in the Nigeria Correctional Service (NCoS).
The convict was arraigned in December 2022 on a five-count charge (CR/503/2022) before Justice M.S. Idris of the Federal Capital Territory (FCT) High Court, Jabi, Abuja.
According to Bakare, in a statement, the court heard how Ogodo forged provisional appointment letters to deceive unsuspecting individuals into paying him large sums of money for non-existent job placements.
Read also: EFCC probes NSCDC officers over alleged N6bn fraud
During the trial, Hamza Sani, ICPC prosecutor, presented evidence showing how Ogodo violated multiple laws, including Sections 13 and 68 of the Corrupt Practices and Other Related Offences Act, Sections 363 and 364 of the Penal Code Act, and Section 1 of the Advanced Fee Fraud and Other Related Offences Act of 2006.
Despite pleas from Ogodo’s defence counsel, A.A. Nwoye, to reduce the sentence to community service, the court handed him a seven-year prison term for counts 1 to 3, with no option of fine.
He also received two months’ imprisonment or a fine of N5,000 on count four, and another two months without a fine option on count five.
Idris also ordered Ogodo to repay all the money he fraudulently collected from his victims, invoking Section 319(1) of the Administration of Criminal Justice Act (ACJA) 2015, which allows courts to mandate restitution to victims of crime.
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