Wednesday, September 24, 2025 - The Economic and Financial Crimes Commission, EFCC, on Monday, September 22, 2025, secured the conviction and sentence of a former legislative aide and banker, Mr. Goni Yilkan, for offences bordering on obtaining by false pretence to the tune of N120.5 million before Justice F. E Messiri of the Federal Capital Territory High Court sitting in Jabi, Abuja.
Yilkan, who hails from Nguru, Yobe State, was found guilty
on a two-count charge of obtaining money by false pretence, contrary to Section
1(1)(a) of the Advance Fee Fraud and Other Related Offences Act, 2006, and
punishable under Section 1(3) of the same Act, and consequently sentenced to
eight years imprisonment without option of fine.
The convict was arraigned alongside one Mohammed Adamu in
October 2023, following investigations into a petitioner's claims of being
defrauded by the convict.
According to the petitioner, Yilkan deceived her between
2020 and 2021 into believing that he had the capacity to secure employment
slots in government agencies such as the Federal Inland Revenue Service (FIRS),
Central Bank of Nigeria (CBN), and Niger Delta Development Commission (NDDC).
On this strength, the petitioner collected varying sums of
money from over 60 jobseekers, amounting to N120,580,550.00 (One Hundred and
Twenty Million, Five Hundred and Eighty Thousand, Five Hundred and Fifty
Naira), which she allegedly remitted to the convict.
However, the purported employment offers never materialized,
prompting Bello to petition the EFCC.
One of the charges read: That you, Mohammed Goni Yilkan,
Mohammed Adamu and others at large between 3rd January 2020 and December 2021
in Abuja within the jurisdiction of the High Court of the Federal Capital
Territory with intent to defraud obtained the sum of N120, 580, 550 (One
Hundred and Twenty Million, Five Hundred and Eighty Thousand, Five Hundred and
Fifty Naira) from Mrs. Hindatu Bello under the false pretence that you had the
capacity to secure jobs for her candidates in various Ministries, Departments
and Agencies of the Federal Government of Nigeria which pretence you knew to be
false and thereby committed an offence contrary to Section 1(1)(a) of the
Advance Fee Fraud and Other Related Offences Act, 2006 and punishable under
Section 1(3) of the same Act.
In the course of the trial, the prosecution, led by Cosmas
Ugwu, called six witnesses and tendered documentary evidence, while the
defence, led by J.A. Oguche, presented two witnesses, including Yilkan himself.
In his judgment, Justice Messiri held that the prosecution
had proved its case beyond reasonable doubt, convicted Yilkan, but discharged
and acquitted his co-defendant, Adamu. The judge further sentenced Yilkan to
eight years’ imprisonment without an option of fine.
Yilkan’s journey to the Correctional Centre began when he
collected the sum of N120.5million from desperate job seekers in the guise of
offering them slots of employment.
He neither offered them the jobs nor returned their money to
the
0 Comments