Man Bags 10 Years Jail Term For Scamming Muslim Pilgrims

Kemisola Oye 

JUSTICE Oyindamola Ogala of a Lagos High Court sitting in Ikeja has sentenced Alhaji Sharafadeen Irorun to 10 years imprisonment for scamming Muslim pilgrims of Seven Million, Five Hundred Thousand Naira (N7,500,000) only. 

The trial judge had on 29 April 2024 found Irorun guilty on four counts out of a 12-count charge bordering on obtaining by false pretence and stealing brought against him by the Lagos State government.

Justice Ogala held that the prosecution had sufficiently established that the defendant and others who are at large are a criminal group and convicted Irorun on counts 1, 2, 5 and 6.

She held, “The defendant and others who are at large are a criminal group who wittingly dispossessed innocent persons of their money under the pretext of helping them undergo the Hajj pilgrimage.”

The judge convicted him based on the provision of sections 312, 285 (9) (b) of the Criminal Laws of Lagos State 2011.

However, while sentencing the convict today, the judge held that the convict obtained by false presence and stealing. The court, therefore, sentenced him to 10 years imprisonment. She ordered that the prison term commence from 6 June 2022.

It would be recalled that during trial, the prosecution counsel, Mr O. A. Azeez, called three witnesses including one of the nominal complainants who contributed the money which the third prosecution witness (PW3), Alhaji Lukman Abdulkareem, gave to the defendant.

The judge found that PW1 and PW2 had no direct involvement with the defendant but supported the evidence of PW3 who was involved with the defendant and whose evidence she described as “succinct and direct.”

She held, “It is also clear to the court that the evidence of PW1 and PW2 are fair, consistent with the case and indeed corroborate the evidence of the PW3.”

But the judge acquitted Alhaji Irorun of the other eight counts in the charge against him as the court held that the prosecution had not established sufficient evidence to convict the defendant on those counts. 

Justice Ogala held that PW3 told the court that 46 people including himself had contributed money and paid the sum of N7,500,000 to the defendant for the procurement of forms from the Lagos State Muslim Pilgrims Board in 2014.

She held that PW2 gave evidence that he gave N800,000 to PW3 to help him pay for the Hajj pilgrimage for eight people after their original arrangement to secure seats failed.

She held that PW3 told the court that he discovered he had been scammed after he requested officials to give him the bag gifts meant for the pilgrims and was told that their names were not on the list.

PW3 told the court that he reported the incident to the police and they tracked down the defendant to his hometown residence in Osun State where they discovered other Lagos State Muslim Pilgrims Board forms that were fake.

Justice Ogala noted that the defendant’s counsel, S. M. Olatunji, told the court that the prosecution did not bring the Investigating Police Officer on the case to the court to give evidence.

She said Olatunji told the court that the defendant did not take money from the claimants.

The judge held that she had considered the evidence and had every reason to conclude that the prosecution had established that the defendant was part of a criminal group that scams people of their money under the pretext of pilgrimage.

Eighteen-Eleven Media