A businessman, Ali Bukar Jidda, has been sentenced to six months in prison by the Borno State High Court with an option to pay a fine after being found guilty of a N1.1 million fraud.
Justice Aisha Kumaliya presided over the case on Tuesday, where Jidda was convicted following his arraignment by the Maiduguri Zonal Directorate of the Economic and Financial Crimes Commission (EFCC) on a single charge of misappropriation involving N1,126,000.
The charge stated: “That you, Ali Bukar Jidda, sometime in June 2020 at Maiduguri, Borno State, within the jurisdiction of this Honourable Court, having dominion over the sum of N1,126,000 given to you by Umar Odo Soja for the supply of food items, dishonestly misappropriated the said sum. By doing so, you committed an offence contrary to Section 311 of the Penal Code Act Cap 102 Laws of Borno State of Nigeria and punishable under Section 312 of the same law.”
Upon reading the charge, Jidda pleaded guilty.
The prosecution counsel, S.O. Saka, requested the court to convict Jidda as charged, while the defence counsel, A.M. Umar, appealed for leniency.
After considering both sides, Justice Kumaliya sentenced Jidda to six months in prison or a fine of N100,000.
Jidda was initially arrested after failing to supply the food items as agreed or to refund the money to the complainant.
The statement stated in part, “Justice Aisha Kumaliya of the Borno State High Court, Maiduguri on Tuesday, November 5, 2024, convicted and sentenced Ali Bukar Jidda to six months imprisonment.”
“He was jailed upon being arraigned by the Maiduguri Zonal Directorate of the Economic and Financial Crimes Commission, EFCC, on a one-count charge bordering on misappropriation to the tune of N1,126,000.00 (One Million, One Hundred and Twenty-Six Thousand Naira only).”
By Helen Okechukwu
