Cleric jailed 10 years for swindling 40 persons of N5.9m

A cleric in Adamawa State has been jailed for 10 years for swindling 40 people of a total sum of N5.9 million.

The Christian cleric, Rev Ajiboye Kadmiel, 61, was found guilty by an Adamawa State Chief Magistrate Court I of collecting money from the 40 people with a promise to get them school admission.

Reverend Ajiboye, who hails from Imbru ward in Numan Local Government Area, was thus sentenced to 10 years imprisonment by Chief Magistrate Abdullahi Mohammed Digil.

The prosecutor, Inspector Zakka Musa, had earlier told the court that Ajiboye collected the money from the complainants under the pretence of registering them into Passion College of Health and Remedial Science, Numan, but converted same for his personal use.

The prosecutor said Ajiboye collected money ranging from N150,000 to N200,000 in 2017 and 2018 from his victims with the assurance of registering them but to no avail.

The affected intending students are said to be mostly indigenes of Adamawa State while others are from neighbouring Taraba.

When he was arraigned in court, Ajiboye pleaded guilty to the alleged offence, a plea that was corroborated by three witnesses.

After the testimonies of the witnesses, counsel to the defendant, Danbaba Rigange, pleaded with the court to give his client another time to raise money, but the court replied that he was given enough time but he failed to utilise it and the court was left with no option than to conclude the case.

Delivering his judgment, Chief Magistrate Digil sentenced Ajiboye to 10 years in prison with an option of N200,000 fine and payment of N5.947 million to the complainants as compensation.