A young man, Abdulgafar Ayanrinde, who claimed to have dropped out of the University of Ibadan where he studied Law, has been sentenced to six years imprisonment for impersonating a legal practitioner and committing fraud.
Ayanrinde, aged 25, had been dragged before a Magistrate’s Court sitting in Osogbo, Osun State, by the Nigerian Security and Civil Defence Corps in the state and slammed with a two-count charge bordering on impersonation and fraud.
He was said to have impersonated a legal practitioner and duped a Point of Sales operator.
When Ayanrinde was arrested and paraded by the corps in Osogbo recently, he had revealed that he ventured into criminal acts to spite his father whom he claimed to be a prominent Senior Advocate of Nigeria in Ibadan, Oyo State.
He had disclosed that he dropped out of the university at 200 level (Faculty of Law), owing to lack of money.
He confessed to have paraded himself as a SAN and deceived unsuspecting litigants into hiring him.
The NSCDC prosecuting counsel, T. J. Ayayi, had informed the court, upon arraignment, that Ayarinde paraded himself as a lawyer at the premises of the Osun State High Court on May 22, 2023 and also defrauded a female PoS agent of the sum of N150,000 at INEC Area, Osogbo on May 18, this year.
Ayanrinde had also admitted to having presented himself as a SAN to dupe five unsuspecting members of the public of their hard earned money.
He also confessed to stealing an iPhone worth N450,000,00.
The charge had read, “That you Ayanrinde Abdulgafar on the 22nd day of May, 2023, at the Osun State High Court, Oke-Fia, Osogbo, Osun State, in the Osogbo Magisterial District, willfully represented yourself to one Abdulsalam Adbulhafeez Abiodun that you are a legal practitioner and did pretend that you are qualified to act as a legal practitioner, representation which you knew to be false and thereby committed an offence contrary to Section 22(1) of the Legal Practitioners Act, Cap L11, LFN 2004 and punishable under the same section.
“That you (defendant) on the 18th day of May, 2023, at INEC Area, Osogbo, Osun State, in the Osogbo Magisterial District, with intent to defraud, did obtain the sum of N150,000. 00 (One Hundred and Fifty Thousand Naira) from one Adeoye Iyanu Seun on the pretence that you would transfer the said sum to her Polaris Bank Account, a pretence which you knew to be false and thereby committed an offence contrary to Section 1(2) of the Advance Fee Fraud and Other Fraud Related Offences Act – Cap A6 L.F.N. 2004 and punishable under Section 1(3) of the same Act.”
Ayanrinde had pleaded guilty to the allegations.
He was not represented by any lawyer in court.
The prosecutor had urged the court to adjourn the matter in order for him to prepare for the presentation of facts in lieu of the defendant’s guilty-plea.
The presiding magistrate, M. A. Olatunji had adjourned for presentation of facts.
When the matter was mentioned for presentation of facts, the corps prosecutor had proved to the court that the defendant specialized in fraud, impersonation, stealing and obtaining money under false pretence.
However, Magistrate Olatunji found him guilty of the charges and convicted him accordingly.
Delivering her judgement, Olatunji sentenced Ayanrinde to three years imprisonment on first count charge and another three years on the second charge.
The magistrate further ordered the transfer of the sum of N150,000, being part of the proceeds of the crime from the convict’s bank account to one of the victims, Adeoye Iyanu Seun’s account while the Nigeria Correctional Service should provide facility and enabling environment for the academic advancement of the convict while in custody.
Reacting to the judgement in a statement issued on Wednesday by the corps Public Relations Officer, Kehinde Adeleke, the state NSCDC Commandant, Agboola Sunday called on parents and guardians to cater for their children and wards adequately.
He urged youths to embark on productive ventures that add value to their lives, rather than embarking on crimes and criminalities.