Kwara Court sentences two sureties over failure to produce suspects

A Kwara State High Court has sentenced two sureties over failure to produce suspects.

The duo sentenced by the court sitting in Ilorin, the state capital, on Friday are employees of the State Government.

They stood as sureties for suspects being investigated by the Economic and Financial Crimes Commission.

The Ilorin Zonal Command of the Economic and Financial Crimes Commission secured the conviction.

The sureties are Adenigba Olusola of the State Judicial Service Commission and Bisiriyu AbdulFatai of the State Universal Basic Education Board.

Delivering ruling on the applications, Justice Adenike Akinpelu agreed with the submission of the prosecutors, Sesan Ola and Andrew Akoja, that the two sureties should forfeit their bail bond.

The court ordered Olusola to forfeit the recognisance of N5 million and remit the sum of N4.5 million for the first defendant.

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He should pay the sum of N500,000 within three months or be committed to six months in prison.

He is also to forfeit the recognisance of N1 million for the second defendant and remit the sum of N750,000 for the second defendant.

He should pay the sum of N250,000 within three months or be committed to prison for five months.

The court also ordered AbdulFatai to forfeit the recognisance of N3 million and remit the sum of N2 million for the third defendant.

He was ordered to pay N1 million within three months or be committed to six months in prison.

The defendants were arraigned by the EFCC for internet fraud related offences.

Olusola stood as surety for one Amaechi Umenye and Adeyemi Adedeji, while AbdulFatai stood for Dawodu Olusoji.

The two civil servants had made an undertaking to produce the defendants, who are now at large, anytime they were needed by the EFCC.

The trio of Umenye, Adedeji and Olusoji were amongst the 30 suspected internet fraudsters arrested by the EFCC in Offa, Offa Local Government Area of the state sometimes in 2020, while acting on an anonymous petition.

The suspects were conducting some acts of scamming and were popularly known as Yahoo boys.

During the course of investigation, the sureties wrote separate bail applications to the Ilorin Zonal Commander of the EFCC.

They also entered bail bonds and promised to produce the defendants anytime their attention was needed.

The suspects, after their release, however jumped the administrative bail granted them by the commission, while the sureties also could not produce them in court.

EAGLE