By Imisioluwa Afunmiso
Justice Aisha Ibrahim of the Borno State High Court has convicted and sentenced two men, Abdullahi Suleiman and Ahmad Yahaya, for offenses bordering on cheating and criminal misappropriation involving a total sum of N7,378,000.
The defendants were arraigned on Wednesday, May 13, 2026, on separate one-count charges.
Suleiman, alongside Ismail Luka and Ibrahim Musa (both currently at large), was accused of conspiring to cheat Mustapha Baraka Abubakar of N5 million under the guise of exchanging the money for United States dollars, a transaction that was never fulfilled.
According to the charge, their actions contravened Section 59(b) and are punishable under Section 60(2) of the Borno State Penal Code Law, 2023.
In a separate charge, Ahmad Yahaya was accused of dishonestly inducing Abba Goni Hassan to transfer N2,378,000 into his account while falsely presenting himself as the Chief Executive Officer of Siliki Millennium Oil.
He further alleged that the funds were meant for the supply of food items, including flour and other commodities, to markets and individuals, an obligation he failed to execute.
This offense is contrary to Sections 309(a) and (b) and punishable under Section 310 of the Penal Code Law, 2023.
Both defendants pleaded guilty when the charges were read to them, prompting prosecution counsel Mukhtar Ali Ahmed to urge the court to convict and sentence them accordingly. Justice Ibrahim subsequently convicted the pair, sentencing Suleiman to one year of imprisonment with an option of a N25,000 fine, while Yahaya was sentenced to ten years of imprisonment with an option of a N200,000 fine.
The court held that Suleiman diverted N5 million obtained under the pretext of foreign currency exchange, while Yahaya converted N2.378 million meant for the supply of foodstuffs to personal use.
The court affirmed that the convicts’ actions amounted to clear cases of fraud and misappropriation, handing down the respective sentences as a deterrent to others.