- Safiu Kehinde
A 45-year-old man, James Yakubu, has bagged three years jail term for certificate forgery and impersonating as DSS officer.
Yakubu was sentenced by a Federal High Court sitting in Ibadan, Oyo state.
Delivering judgment, Justice Uche Agomoh said that she convicted and sentenced Yakubu based on his guilty plea and the overwhelming evidence tendered against him by the Directorate of State Service (DSS).
Agomoh added that she took note of the provisions of section 270 of the Administration of Criminal Justice Act (ACJA) 2015, which prescribed a reduced sentence for anyone who pleaded guilty to an offence.
” Besides, the convict is a first-time offender and has promised to turn a new leaf if given a second chance.
”Having considered all the relevant principles of law, I hereby, sentence Yakubu to one year imprisonment for count one, one year imprisonment for count two- and one-year imprisonment for count three.
” The three to four months’ time spent in lawful custody shall be deducted from the sentence.
” Sentencing shall run concurrently,” the judge held.
Prior to the judgment, the Defence Counsel, Mr Ayooluwa Folarin prayed the court to be lenient in sentencing his client, noting that he was an orphan who was only recently diagnosed with renal failure.
However, the Prosecuting Counsel, Mr T.A. Nurudeen told the court that the convict of No. 9 Olawale Compound, Monatan-Egbeda area of Ibadan, Oyo State, committed the crime sometime in November 2024.
Nurudeen explained that the convict manipulated the computer to produce a fake Bachelor of Science degree certificate (BSE) from University of Ibadan which was originally issued to one Stephen Adoro with matric number 133552.
He said that the convict falsely represented himself with the name; James Cunnings Adebayo, a medical doctor in the service of University College Hospital (UCH) and Oluyoro Catholic Hospital.
The prosecutor also said that the convict also falsely represented himself as personnel of the DSS in order to take undue advantage of unsuspecting Nigerians.
He tendered all the exhibits before the court.
According to Nurudeen, the offences contravened the provisions of sections 13 of the Cybercrime Act Prohibition and Prevention Act 2015 and 108 (2) of the Criminal Code Cap (C.38).