Ex-Legislative Aide Jailed 8 Years For N120.5m Employment Scam
Stephen Olufemi Oni, Ilorin
The Ilorin Zonal Directorate of the Economic and Financial Crimes Commission )EFCC) has secured the conviction of a former legislative aide and banker, Mr. Goni Yilkan, for offences bordering on obtaining by false pretence to the tune of N120.5m 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 petition by Hajiya Hindatu Bello.
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, Hajia Bello 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 remitted to the convict.
However, the purported employment offers never materialised, prompting Bello to petition the EFCC.
Part of the offences as contained in count two of the charge reads:
“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 ordered Yilkan’s remand in prison custody pending sentencing.
At the sentencing hearing, Yilkan pleaded for leniency, expressing remorse. The prosecuting counsel, however, argued that his claim of remorse was not genuine since he still retained the illicit funds and had not refunded his victims.
Justice Messiri consequently sentenced Yilkan to eight years’ imprisonment without an option of fine, bringing an end to a five-year-long case of deceit and betrayal trust.