Proprietress diverts students’ N5m WAEC registration fees, convicted

Proprietress of Dala Standard Secondary School, Maiduguri,
Josephine Udeh, has been convicted for collecting N5,059,000, WAEC
registration fees from 284 students of her school and converting it
to her private use.

Udeh was arrested and arraigned by the Maiduguri Zonal Office of
the Economic and Financial Crimes Commission (EFCC).

She was arraigned before Justice Aisha Kumaliya of the Borno
State High Court, sitting in Maiduguri on a one-count charge of
obtaining money by false pretence to the tune of N5,059,000.

She pleaded not guilty upon her arraignment on April 24,
2019.

In the course of the trial, the prosecution presented 10
witnesses and 10 exhibits which pushed her to enter into a plea
bargain agreement with the EFCC.

At the resumed hearing, yesterday, prosecution counsel, Benjamin
Manji, prayed the court to substitute an earlier charge filed on
April 9 with an amended charge of the day, July 31.

Udeh pleaded guilty to the amended charge in line with the plea
bargain agreement she opted for.

Following her guilty plea, the prosecution counsel prayed the
court to convict her as charged.

However, the defence counsel, B. G. Sanda, prayed for leniency
and urged the court to temper justice with mercy as the defendant
had already re-paid the misappropriated sum.

Consequently, Justice Kumaliya pronounced her guilty as charged
with a fine of N150,000 and to spend one year in prison custody in
default of the payment of the fine.

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