A Borno State High Court in Maiduguri has sentenced a woman to six months in prison for fraud involving N3.5 million collected under a false overseas job promise.
The Economic and Financial Crimes Commission (EFCC) disclosed that Justice B.T. Zannah delivered the judgment on Wednesday after Yagana Musa Mohammed was prosecuted by the commission’s Maiduguri Zonal Directorate.
The EFCC said Mohammed faced a one-count amended charge of criminal misappropriation after she dishonestly converted N3,500,000 belonging to Mohammed Tukur Yaji for personal use.
The charge stated: “That you, Yagana Musa Mohammed, sometimes in 2025 at Maiduguri, Borno State within the jurisdiction of this honourable court dishonestly misappropriated and converted to your own use the aggregate sum of N3,500,000.00 only, money belonging to Mohammed Tukur Yaji, during the course of your work while assessing to the State of Qatar and thereby committed an offence contrary to section 296 of the Penal Code Law and Other Matters Connected therein and punishable under Section 297 of the same Law.”
Mohammed pleaded guilty when the charge was read before the court.
Following the plea, prosecution counsel, A.D. Abdulmalik, urged the court to convict the defendant, while defence counsel, H.A. Aliyu, appealed for mercy, telling the court that the convict was remorseful and had restituted the petitioner.
Justice Zannah convicted Mohammed and sentenced her to six months imprisonment with an option of a N50,000 fine.
The EFCC said the case stemmed from the convict’s collection of N3.5 million from the petitioner after claiming she would secure employment for him in the State of Qatar, a promise she knew to be false. The commission said she neither secured the job nor refunded the money, leading to her prosecution and conviction.