TheCable

Segun Odewale, identified as a public officer of the Nigeria Security and Civil Defence Corps (NSCDC) in Osun, has been sentenced to seven years imprisonment over employment fraud.

This was disclosed in a statement on Tuesday by the Independent Corrupt Practices and other Related Offences Commission (ICPC).

According to the statement, Odewale was arraigned on a three-count charge over defrauding a female citizen under the guise of helping her to secure a job.

He was said to have received N100,000 from the woman.

“That you, Segun A. Odewale (M) sometime in the year 2011 or thereabout being a public officer in the employment of the Nigerian Security and Civil Defence Corps (NSCDC) Osun State command did use your office as a staff of the Nigerian Security and Civil Defence Corps (NSCDC) to confer unfair advantage on yourself upon receipt of the sum of N100,000 (one hundred thousand naira) for yourself from one (name withheld) on account of a promise to secure employment for her with the Nigerian Security and Civil Defence Corps (NSCDC),” one of the count reads.

Muftau Adediran, counsel to the defendant, pleaded with the court to temper justice with mercy on the grounds that his client was a first-time offender and a family man with dependents.

Elijah Akaakohol, counsel to the prosecution, also affirmed that the defendant had no previous record of offence with the ICPC.

In the ruling, M.O. Agboola, judge of the Osun state high court 6B in Osogbo, sentenced Odewale to three years imprisonment on count one, and two years imprisonment on counts two and three, respectively.

The N100,000 said to have been recovered from the lady has reportedly been forfeited to the federal government.

The sentences are, however, expected to run concurrently.