From Sola Ojo, Abuja
Justices R.M. Aikawa and A. Isiaka of the Federal and Kaduna State High Courts, respectively, have convicted and sentenced five individuals—David Dawaza Gafara, Abraham Emmanuel Kazachang, Muhammed Umar Faruk, Aliyu Ibrahim Oyibo, and David Eddy Akang—for financial crimes.
The Kaduna Zonal Directorate of the Economic and Financial Crimes Commission (EFCC) prosecuted them on separate one-count charges.
Moreover, Gafara, Kazachang, Faruk, and Oyibo faced charges before Justice Aikawa for impersonation and cybercrime. Gafara’s charge stated, “That you David Dawaza Gafara (a.k.a Meshaa Renee), (m) between January and April, 2025 at Bida, Niger State within the jurisdiction of this Honourable Court, falsely presented yourself as Meshaa Renee on Facebook (an online social media application), and in that assumed character attempted to gain advantage for yourself and thereby committed an offence contrary to Section 27 (1) (a) of the Cybercrimes Prohibition Prevention Etc Act, 2015 and punishable under Section 22(2) (b) (iv) of the same Act.”
Akang was prosecuted before Justice Isiaka for stealing N1 million, with his charge reading, “That you, David Eddy Akang ‘m’ sometimes in May, 2021 within the jurisdiction of this Honourable Court dishonestly took out of the possession of Susan Okafor the sum of N1,000,000.00 (One Million, Naira) only from her account number 0074736651, domiciled at Sterling Bank Plc without her consent and you thereby committed the offence of theft contrary to Section 270(1) of the Kaduna State Penal Code Law, 2017 and punishable under Section 271 of the same Law.”
All pleaded “guilty,” prompting prosecutors M.U. Gadaka and Moses Arumemi to urge conviction. Justice Aikawa sentenced Gafara and Kazachang to three years’ imprisonment or a N500,000 fine, with Gafara forfeiting a Samsung Galaxy S10 and Kazachang an iPhone 16 Plus. Faruk received two years or a N300,000 fine, forfeiting an iPhone XS Max, Tecno Pop 7, and Tecno phone. Oyibo got five years or a N300,000 fine, forfeiting an iPhone 15 Pro, Samsung Galaxy S23, and HP Spectre laptop. Justice Isiaka sentenced Akang to two years or a N300,000 fine for stealing N1 million from Susan Okafor’s account via a PoS vendor, following her petition.