Court jails ‘Mama Boko Haram,’ two others for N6m fraud in Maiduguri

Justice Aisha Kumaliya of the Borno State High Court, Maiduguri, has convicted and sentenced Aisha Alkali Wakil, also known as ‘Mama Boko Haram,’ to 5 years imprisonment along side two others for N6 million fraud.

This was disclosed in a statement signed by Dele Oyewale, head, media & publicity, Economic and Financial Crime Commission, on Monday.

According to the statement, the convicts were arrested and prosecuted for taking from a petitioner a Toyota Camry 2012 model worth six million naira under the guise of purchasing the said car. They neither purchased the car nor returned it to the petitioner.

Wakil, who is the chief executive officer of Complete Care and Aid Foundation (NGO), alongside Tahiru Saidu, programme Mlmanager and Lawal Ahoyode, country director, were re-arraigned on September 1, 2020, on four- count amended charges bordering on cheating, conspiracy and giving false information to the tune of N6 million.

Count two of the charge read, “That you, Aisha Alkali Wakil, Tahiru Saidu Daura and Prince Lawal Shoyade whilst being Chief Executive Officer, Programme Manager and Country Director respectively of Complete Care and Aid Foundation (Non-Governmental Organisation) sometime between October and November 2018 at Maiduguri, Borno State within the jurisdiction of this Honourable Court, dishonestly induced one Alhaji Bukar Kachalla of Abks Ventures Limited to deliver to you a Toyota Camry 2012 Model worth N6,000,000.00 (Six Million Naira) only under the guise of executing a contract for the purchase of the said car and thereby committed an offence contrary to Section 320 (a) and punishable under Section 322 of the Penal Code Cap 102 Laws of Borno State.”

However, the defendants pleaded not guilty to the charges preferred against them by the EFCC.

During the trial, counsels for the prosecution, Mukhtar Ali Ahmed and Shamsudeeb Olayinka Saka, presented three witnesses and tendered several documents as exhibits before the court in proof of EFCC’s case against the defendants.

“Justice Kumaliya thereafter convicted and sentenced the defendants to five years imprisonment without an option of fine each.

“The Judge further ordered the defendants to jointly and severally restitute the balance of N3.5m to the petitioner or in default, serve an additional five years jail term each,” the statement read.