A Yaba Chief Magistrates’ Court, Lagos yesterday sentenced a 39-year-old man, Kennis Akpologun, to four years imprisonment for impersonating a naval officer and obtaining N76,000 under false pretence.
The Magistrate, Mrs O.A. Erinle, sentenced Akpologun after he pleaded guilty to a three-count charge, bordering on impersonation, forgery and obtaining under false pretence.
Erinle held that she sentenced the convict to two-year imprisonment in count one, while counts two and three carried a year jail term each.
“The terms are to run consecutively without an option of fine.
“The accused is convicted as charged and sentenced to four years imprisonment, which will take effect from the date of his arrest,” she said.
Earlier, the Prosecutor, Sgt. Onaiwu Iyobosa, had told the court that the accused committed the offences in January 2016 in Gbagada area of Lagos State.
Iyobosa said Akpologun posed as a naval officer responsible for recruitment and training and defrauded one Bola Awaki and one Bukola Olagunju of the sum of N76, 000.
She said the accused promised the complaints that they would join the 2016 set of trainees, which he knew was false.
“When the complainants found out that the accused had lied, they asked for refund which yielded no results,” the prosecutor said.
Iyobosa said when the accused was apprehended; he had in his possession forged documents of the Nigeria Navy.
She said the offences contravened Sections 78, 312 and 318 of the Criminal Law of Lagos State, 2011.
Copyright Ships & Ports Ltd. Permission to use quotations from this article is granted subject to appropriate credit given to www.shipsandports.com.ng as the source.