Justice Binta Isah of the Kaduna State High Court, Zaria on Tuesday convicted and sent a graduate of Political Science, Jehu Kwasu, to three years in prison on a two-count charge of forgery and obtaining by false pretence.
Our correspondent reported in September, 2016 that Jehu had admitted to impersonating the Catholic Bishop of Sokoto Diocese, Bishop Mathew Kukah, and conned prominent Nigerians of millions of naira.
Kwasu said his victims included Bishop David Oyedepo of Winners Chapel who he claimed gave him N500,000; the Chairman, Honeywell Group, Oba Otudeko, N1m; Admiral Ndubuisi Kanu, N500,000; businessman, Alhaji Aminu Dantata, N2m, and others.
He allegedly collected the money for rehabilitation of Internally Displaced Persons in the North-East.
Detectives who investigated him said only N1.7m balance was found in his bank account, adding that he spent most of the cash on girls and hard drugs.
Kwasu, son of the late Anglican Bishop, James Kwasu, also exploited his father’s name to extort money from the Katsina State Governor, Aminu Masari, when he was the Speaker, House of Representatives.
The 25-year old confessed that he solicited for money from his victims via phone to cater for internally displaced persons in the country.
The cleric’s son stated that he obtained an international passport with the name, Mathew Hassah Kukah Jehu, and also opened an account with the Guaranty Trust Bank in the same name.
He said, “I called people on the phone and told them I’m Bishop Kukah. I used his picture on my true caller account, so that when I called people, they would think he was the one talking with them.
“I also obtained an international passport in Bishop Kukah’s name which I used to open an account with GTB. The money I realized was paid into the account and I was using an ATM card to withdraw it.”
Justice Binta sentenced him to two years imprisonment for the offence of obtaining by false pretence and one-year imprisonment for the offence of forgery. The sentence is to run concurrently. He was also ordered to restitute the sum of N5m.
In a related development, Justice Idrissa Kolo of the Federal High Court, Kano, convicted and sentenced one Christopher Ngene to nine years imprisonment on three counts of conspiracy and obtaining by false pretence.
The convict fraudulently induced the complainant through a phone call to part with the sum of N350, 000 on the pretext that the money would be used to purchase a solar panel.
Justice Idrissa sentenced him to a prison term of three years on each of the three-count charge. The sentence is to run concurrently from the day of his arrest.
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