Justice Mohammed Maina of the Borno State High Court sitting in Maiduguri on Wednesday, April 15, 2026, convicted and sentenced Akeem Oriade Adeyinka to various jail terms for obtaining N13 million under false pretence.
Adeyinka was arraigned on September 23, 2025, by the Maiduguri Zonal Directorate of the Economic and Financial Crimes Commission (EFCC) on two-count separate charges bordering on obtaining by false pretence and criminal misappropriation involving N3 million and N10 million respectively.
According to the charges, the convict in 2024 fraudulently obtained N3 million from one Oseni Ibrahim Alani under the guise of financing a contract he claimed to have secured.
In another instance, he was said to have obtained N10 million from Haruna Malim in June 2024, claiming the funds were meant for investment in the purchase and supply of counting machines and Automated Teller Machine (ATM) parts for a contract in Cameroon.
The defendant pleaded not guilty to the charges, prompting prosecution counsel S.O. Saka and A.D. Abdulmalik to call witnesses and tender documentary evidence before the court.
Delivering judgment, Justice Maina found Adeyinka guilty on both counts.
He sentenced him to three years imprisonment on count one, with an option of a N300,000 fine. The court also ordered him to restitute N3 million to the petitioner or serve an additional seven years imprisonment in default.
On count two, the court sentenced him to three years imprisonment with an option of N100,000 fine, and further ordered the restitution of N10 million to the petitioner or a 10-year jail term in default.
The sentences are to run consecutively.
The court heard that Adeyinka neither supplied the promised items nor refunded the money to the victims, leading to his prosecution.
In a related development, the EFCC on the same day arraigned Alhaji Abdullahi Hamman before Justice Maina on a two-count charge bordering on obtaining money by false pretence to the tune of N2.6 million.
