MICHAEL AKINOLA
A 25-year old man, Ayanrinde Abdulgafar, who called himself to the Nigerian Bar and elevated self to the position of a Senior Advocate of Nigeria, has been convicted and sentenced to three years imprisonment for impersonation in Osun State.
P.M.EXPRESS reports that it was the judgment of the Presiding Magistrate, M.A. Olatunji, after he pleaded guilty to the two-count offence bordering on impersonation of as a legal practitioner and obtaining money under false pretense.
The incident happened in May, 2023, he was caught and arraigned before the Magistrates for the alleged offence having been found culpable for his conduct.
The convict, Abdulgafar, was arrested for defrauding a POS operator, and presenting himself not just as a lawyer but a ‘Senior Advocate of Nigeria’ to his victims in order to intimidate them.
However, he was unlucky as the Nigeria Security and Civil Defence Corps, NSCDC, apprehended and interrogated him. At that point, he confessed that he was not a Lawyer or SAN as he had claimed.
He was subsequently charged before the Court, where he pleaded guilty and the Court sentenced him accordingly.
This was disclosed by the Command’s spokesperson, Kehinde Adeleke, who stated that the Court ordered that the Nigeria Correctional Centre shall provide facility and enabling environment for the academic advancement of the convict while in their custody.
“The Magistrate further ordered the transfer of the sum of One Hundred and Fifty-thousand Naira (₦150,000), being part of the proceeds of the crime from the convict’s account to the victim’s account” he said.