Naira Notes
A man arrested for dealing in the printing of fake naira notes has been given a stiff penalty by a Lagos court.
Justice Ibrahim Buba of a Federal High Court in Lagos on Thursday
convicted one James Onwuso who was caught printing fake naira notes.
The judge sentenced Onwuso to seven years imprisonment and ordered
the forfeiture of the machine used by the convict to print the fake
naira notes to the Central Bank of Nigeria.
He also gave an order that the fake N200, N500 and N1,000 notes recovered from the convict should be destroyed.
The convict had in 2012 been arraigned on three counts by the Attorney General of the Federation.
The state prosecutor, Kehinde Bode-Ayeni, told the court that
Onwuso was arrested on November 15, 2011 in the Gbagada area of Lagos
State. He was said to have been found in possession of the machine,
printing papers and fake N200, N500 and N1,000 notes.
According to Bode-Ayeni, the offence is contrary to sections 1 (1)
and 2 of the Counterfeit Currency (Special Provision) Act Cap C35 of the
Laws of the Federation of Nigeria 2004.
Justice Buba convicted Onwuso on the strength of his confessional statement tendered in evidence by the prosecution.
The convict had in his confessional statement told investigators
that he went into the illegal venture after retiring from the Nigerian
Army, adding that he had a supplier who brought him printing papers.
In his judgment on Thursday, Justice Buba said the prosecution
proved its case against the convict beyond reasonable doubts, adding
that the court had no difficulty in arriving at its verdict.
“In view of his plea and the facts before me, you are hereby
sentenced to seven years imprisonment on count one and another seven
years for counts one and two to run concurrently beginning from the time
of arrest.
“The counterfeit notes and machines are to be forwarded to Central Bank of Nigeria for destruction,” Justice Buba said.
No comments:
Post a Comment