A former legislative aide and banker, Goni Yilkan, has been sentenced to eight years in prison for defrauding job seekers of ₦120.5 million under the guise of securing employment in federal government agencies.
Yilkan was found guilty years after being charged by the Ilorin Zonal Directorate of the Economic and Financial Crimes Commission (EFCC) on a two-count charge of obtaining by false pretence, contrary to the Advance Fee Fraud and Other Related Offences Act, 2006, and punishable under Section 1(3) of the same Act.
Justice F.E. Messiri of the Federal Capital Territory (FCT) High Court sitting in Jabi sentenced him to prison after the EFCC proved that he collected money from job seekers between 2020 and 2021 under false promises of employment.
Investigations carried out by the anti-graft agency revealed that Yilkan used a petitioner, Hindatu Bello, to collect varying sums from more than 60 job seekers, with assurances of placement in the Federal Inland Revenue Service (FIRS), Central Bank of Nigeria (CBN), and Niger Delta Development Commission (NDDC).
One of the charges read: “That you, Mohammed Goni Yilkan, Mohammed Adamu and others at large, between 3rd January 2020 and December 2021 in Abuja, within the jurisdiction of the High Court of the Federal Capital Territory, with intent to defraud, obtained the sum of ₦120,580,550 (One Hundred and Twenty Million, Five Hundred and Eighty Thousand, Five Hundred and Fifty Naira) from Mrs. Hindatu Bello under the false pretence that you had the capacity to secure jobs for her candidates in various Ministries, Departments, and Agencies of the Federal Government of Nigeria, which pretence you knew to be false, and thereby committed an offence contrary to Section 1(1)(a) of the Advance Fee Fraud and Other Related Offences Act, 2006, and punishable under Section 1(3) of the same Act.”
During the trial, the prosecution, led by Cosmas Ugwu, called six witnesses and tendered documents, while the defence counsel, J.A. Oguche, called two witnesses including Yilkan himself.
In his Justice Messiri ruled that the EFCC had proven its case beyond reasonable doubt and sentenced Yilkan to eight years’ imprisonment without an option of fine, describing his actions as a fraudulent scheme that preyed on desperate job seekers.
