UYO
Justice Agatha Okeke of the Federal High Court Uyo, AkwaIbom State, on Wednesday last week, convicted and sentenced Moses AsuquoEffiong to two years’ imprisonment for obtaining by false pretence.
Effiong was arraigned alongside two others by the Uyo Zonal Command of the Economic and Financial Crimes Commission (EFCC) on March 26, 2020 for selling a piece of land belonging to someone else.
They had pleaded not guilty to the two-count charge preferred against them.
But when the matter came up for hearing on Wednesday March 15, 2022, Asuquo changed his plea to ‘guilty’.
One of the charges against the defendants reads: “That you Edwin EdetEtim (alias AnietieUdofiaEkanem), Joseph Essien Samuel, Moses AsuquoEffiong (alias AnietieUdofiaEkanem), IbangaBasseyBassey (at large) and Paulina Edem (at large) sometime in November 2019 at Uyo within the jurisdiction of this Honourable court, with intent to defraud did conspire among yourselves to commit a felony to wit: obtaining money by false pretence in the sum of N6, 000, 000.00 ( Six Million Naira) only from Etuk Emmanuel Benjamin as payment for a land at Shelter Afrique Area of Uyo, AkwaIbom State which pretext you knew to be false and thereby committed an offence contrary to section 8(a) of the Advance Fee Fraud and Other Fraud Related Offences Act 2006 and punishable under section 1(3) of the same Act.”
In view of Effiong’s guilty plea, the prosecution counsel, Adebayo Suares,urged the court to convict and sentence himwhile others continued with the trial.
Accordingly,Okeke convicted Effiong and sentenced him to two years on each of the two counts, which will run concurrently from the date of his arrest.
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