By Muyideen Aliyu, Ilorin
A Federal High Court in Ilorin, Kwara State, on Wednesday sentenced three men Olaitan Dina, Opeyemi Jeremiah, and Adebayo Mayowa Abiola to various jail terms after finding them guilty of possessing counterfeit Naira notes.
The judgment explicitly excluded the option of a fine, emphasizing the severity of the offense.
Justice Abimbola Awogboro delivered the judgment, stating that the prosecution, led by the Ilorin Zonal Directorate of the Economic and Financial Crimes Commission (EFCC), successfully proved its case beyond a reasonable doubt.
Justice Awogboro condemned Naira counterfeiting as a “serious crime against the law and society,” asserting that the custodial sentence must act as a firm deterrent to others.
She remarked on the current surge in criminality, noting: “Many are involved in drug abuse, others in cybercrime, and now in counterfeiting. The court must act firmly to restore sanity.”
The convicts were arrested by operatives of the Nigeria Security and Civil Defence Corps (NSCDC) and subsequently handed over to the EFCC for detailed investigation.
Olaitan Dina, 46, an aluminium fabricator from Maraba, Ilorin, received 18 months imprisonment, Opeyemi Jeremiah, a bakery worker from Oke-Ero Local Government Area, received 15 months imprisonment, while Adebayo Mayowa Abiola, from Osi, Ekiti State, received 15 months imprisonment.
All three were prosecuted on separate charges under the Counterfeit Currency (Special Provisions) Act, 1983, and pleaded guilty.
During the review of facts, the EFCC presented Detective Abdulhakeem Sani Umar, who testified that the recovered notes were sent to the Commission’s forensic laboratory in Abuja and confirmed to be counterfeit, with several bearing identical serial numbers.
The fake currency and the convicts’ confessional statements were tendered as evidence.
Justice Awogboro ordered that the jail terms for Jeremiah and Abiola, and Dina are to run concurrently from October 15, 2025. Furthermore, the court mandated that all counterfeit notes recovered from the men be forfeited to the Federal Government.