RismadarVoice Reporters
May 14, 2026
Justice Aisha Ibrahim of the Borno State High Court sitting in Maiduguri has convicted and sentenced two fraudsters, Abdullahi Suleiman and Ahmad Yahaya, for offences bordering on cheating and criminal misappropriation involving over N7 million.
The convicts were arraigned on Wednesday by the Economic and Financial Crimes Commission on separate one-count charges linked to fraudulent transactions amounting to N7,378,000.
According to the charge against Suleiman, he conspired with two accomplices currently at large, identified as Ismail Luka and Ibrahim Musa, to defraud one Mustapha Baraka Abubakar of N5 million under the pretext of exchanging the money for United States dollars.
The prosecution stated that Suleiman collected the money in Maiduguri in 2026 but failed to deliver the foreign currency as agreed, diverting the funds for personal use.
The charge was said to contravene Sections 59(b) and 60(2) of the Penal Code Law of Borno State, 2023.
Yahaya, on the other hand, was accused of fraudulently obtaining N2.378 million from one Abba Goni Hassan in 2025 after presenting himself as the Chief Executive Officer of Siliki Millennium Oil, a company purportedly involved in the supply of flour, foodstuffs and related items.
The court heard that the money was transferred through a Union Bank account provided by the defendant for the supposed supply transaction, which was never fulfilled.
Both defendants pleaded guilty when the charges were read to them in court.
Prosecution counsel, Mukhtar Ali Ahmed, urged the court to convict and sentence the defendants accordingly.
Delivering judgment, Justice Ibrahim sentenced Suleiman to one year imprisonment with an option of N25,000 fine, while Yahaya was sentenced to 10 years imprisonment with an option of N200,000 fine.
The court held that the offences constituted criminal misappropriation and cheating under the laws of Borno State.
The EFCC said the convicts’ imprisonment followed investigations into separate petitions filed by victims who accused them of obtaining money through false pretences.
