The Upper Area Court, Keffi, today sentenced an admission fraudster to
three years in prison with no fine option, after he was convicted for
using the name of Nasarawa State University, Keffi (NSUK), to defraud
unsuspecting persons he had admitted in an illegal out-campus of the
university in Abuja.
John Francis Ada, the convict was recently nabbed by the police through tips given to the management of the university, after he was found to be operating an illegal out-campus of the university, and given fraudulent admission to candidates there.
He was convicted for Forgery and Cheating by Impersonation by Sole Judge, Ali T. Changbo, who declared that based on available facts and relying on the confessional statements by the convict, in addition to the testimonies of 13 witnesses and eight documents tendered, it was clear that the Ada willfully and intentionally committed the various offences for which he was charged, prosecuted, found guilty and sentenced according to Section 324 of the Penal Code of Nigeria.
The convict is also to refund all monies collected from his victims. He is to suffer additional six months imprisonment in case of default in refunding the said amounts.
But the convict, a first time offender, pleaded for leniency. “I am appealing that justice should be tampered with mercy”.
The sentence is with effect from the February 23, 2012, when he was arrested at Suleja, Niger State before he was transferred to Keffi for arraignment, prosecution and judgment.
A statement from Zakari Jamil, spokesman of the university, said “Mr. John Francis Ada was notoriously operating an illegal Study Centre at the New Nyanya Primary School, Nyanya under the name of Nasarawa State University, Keffi.
“Until his arrest, he has successfully defrauded many people into paying various sums of money into his and his wife’s accounts, for fake admission. He impersonated as a Senior staff, Coordinator of the so-called Study Center and a doctorate degree holder of the university”, the university statement added.
John Francis Ada, the convict was recently nabbed by the police through tips given to the management of the university, after he was found to be operating an illegal out-campus of the university, and given fraudulent admission to candidates there.
He was convicted for Forgery and Cheating by Impersonation by Sole Judge, Ali T. Changbo, who declared that based on available facts and relying on the confessional statements by the convict, in addition to the testimonies of 13 witnesses and eight documents tendered, it was clear that the Ada willfully and intentionally committed the various offences for which he was charged, prosecuted, found guilty and sentenced according to Section 324 of the Penal Code of Nigeria.
The convict is also to refund all monies collected from his victims. He is to suffer additional six months imprisonment in case of default in refunding the said amounts.
But the convict, a first time offender, pleaded for leniency. “I am appealing that justice should be tampered with mercy”.
The sentence is with effect from the February 23, 2012, when he was arrested at Suleja, Niger State before he was transferred to Keffi for arraignment, prosecution and judgment.
A statement from Zakari Jamil, spokesman of the university, said “Mr. John Francis Ada was notoriously operating an illegal Study Centre at the New Nyanya Primary School, Nyanya under the name of Nasarawa State University, Keffi.
“Until his arrest, he has successfully defrauded many people into paying various sums of money into his and his wife’s accounts, for fake admission. He impersonated as a Senior staff, Coordinator of the so-called Study Center and a doctorate degree holder of the university”, the university statement added.
