Ex-convict sentenced to 3 years in prison over N12m theft

Wednesday, March 25, 2026 - An ex-convict, Oluokun Gabriel Adekola, has been sentenced to three years in prison by the Special Offences Court sitting in Ikeja, Lagos, after being found guilty of stealing N12 million.

Justice Rahman Oshodi delivered the judgment on Tuesday, convicting Adekola on a one-count amended charge filed against him by the Lagos Zonal Directorate 1 of the Economic and Financial Crimes Commission, EFCC, Ikoyi.

The defendant was arraigned on March 16, 2026, over allegations bordering on theft.

According to the charge, he conspired with accomplices, who are still at large, in 2025 to conceal and disguise the source of N12 million paid into his account.

Prosecution counsel revealed that the money was part of a larger sum of N3,091,441,849 allegedly siphoned from accounts domiciled with First City Monument Bank through unauthorised access and mobile banking fraud.

The funds were said to have been withdrawn and converted to cash via Point of Sale operators.

Adekola pleaded guilty to the charge during his arraignment.

Further proceedings showed that the convict had a prior criminal record. On July 23, 2020, Justice Joyce Abdulmalik of the Federal High Court in Ibadan had sentenced him to 20 years’ imprisonment for defrauding a Taiwanese national of $22,300.

At the sentencing stage in the current case, the prosecution, led by E. S. Okongwu, presented a Certified True Copy of the earlier judgment, admitted as Exhibit 1 with suit number FHC/IB/32C/2018.

The prosecution also urged the court to order restitution of N3.5 million to the nominal complainant.

In his plea for leniency, defence counsel, Fabian Nwaforji, told the court that the defendant was remorseful and had already spent four years and six months in custody, urging the court to temper justice with mercy.

In his ruling, Justice Oshodi described the offence as akin to money laundering and noted that the defendant was a repeat offender.

However, the court took into account his guilty plea and willingness to make restitution.

Consequently, the court sentenced Adekola to three years’ imprisonment and directed him to refund N3.5 million to First City Monument Bank within three months.