A blind teacher, Mary Ihekanacho, has cause to thank officials of the Economic and Financial Crimes Commission, EFCC, as the anti-graft agency was able to retrieve the sum of N550, 000 out of a total of N830,000 she was defrauded of by fraudsters through a job scam.
The wicked syndicate had taken advantage of the woman's condition and swooped in on her by promising to facilitate her son’s employment with a major oil company, and in the process, they manipulated her and duped her of her hard earned money.
But in a rare feat, the EFCC got on the trail of the scammers after the woman reported the case to them and was able to retrieve the money which the agency presented to her.
making the presentation on behalf of the Executive Chairman of the body, Mr Ibrahim Lamorde, David Iloyanomo said:
The EFCC stands for justice for all and calls on the general public to ensure that they assist the Commission in carrying out its duties by coming forward to give evidence in court when it is required.
An overwhelmed Mrs. Ihekanacho commended the EFCC for coming to her rescue.
I had lost hope. I prayed and asked God to take control and was surprised when Richard (her son) called me and told me that the young man has been arrested.
If someone can scam a blind woman, what else won’t that person do?
In a press release, the Head of Media and Publicity of EFCC, Wilson Uwujaren, stated that sometime in July, 2012, Ihekanacho fell into the hands of some fraudsters led by one Gift Onyegam who defrauded her of the sum of eight hundred and thirty thousand naira (N830, 000.00), with the promise that they would offer her son, Richard a job with an oil company. After collecting the money, the syndicate went into thin air.
Realising that she has been duped, Ihekanacho wrote a petition to the anti-graft agency and following the petition, Onyegam was arrested and arraigned on a 4-count charge of obtaining money by false pretence before Justice M. L. Shuaibu of the Federal High Court, Enugu.
On February 24, 2014, Justice Shuiabu convicted and sentenced Onyegam to ten years imprisonment without option of fine. The court also ordered the convict to pay the victim, the sum of N711, 000 (seven hundred and eleven thousand naira) in restitution.