•To spend 10 yrs in jail

By Austin Ogwuda, Enugu

THE common saying, “every day is for the thief, one day is for the owner”, aptly captures the pathetic story of how a blind female teacher in Enugu State was swindled of her life savings while trying to secure her son a plum job at Shell Petroleum Development Company, SPDC.

It all began sometime in 2012, when a 33-year-old security guard attached to a privately-owned security outfit in Port Harcourt, Rivers State, Gift Onyegam, in connivance with three others, decided, ‘419’ style, to dupe the blind woman.

The result? Nemesis finally caught up with him, although his comrades-in-crime escaped and are presently at large.

Not only did the court of law convict Gift, sentencing him to 10 years imprisonment without an option of fine, he was also compelled to cough out the money he collected from the woman.

…. Genesis of the crime

*Mrs. Rose Ihekanacho receiving the bank draft from EFCC Head of Operations, South East

The victim, Mrs. Rose Ihekanacho, had a chance to narrate her ordeal last week at the Enugu zonal office of the Economic and Financial Crimes Commission, EFCC, when she came to collect part of the money to be refunded to her. She was assisted to the office by her son. According to her: “It was a painful incident. I had never thought in my life that somebody will, without conscience, dupe a physically-challenged person in this my condition. But I thank God and also thank this Commission for the way they handled the matter. I almost gave up interest in the matter initially when it was ‘come today, come tomorrow’. It was stressful and I almost gave up because it was becoming a threat to my life. To God be the glory that I have now collected back my hard earned money which was taken from me through dubious means. Oh, may God elevate you the zonal head and all your staff to greater heights. You are wonderful”.

…..EFCC South-East zonal head speaks

Presenting a First Bank draft of N550,000 made payable to the fraud victim, Mrs. Ihekanacho in his office, EFCC’s   Head of Operations, South-East zone, Mr. David Iloyanomo said: “I am happy we in this Commission have painstakingly pursued this matter to its logical conclusion, through prosecution, the conviction and in recovery. That is what EFCC stands for, justice no matter who is involved, whether poor or rich. All we need is information and cooperation. If she did not come to give evidence in court, he (Gift) couldn’t have been convicted. So we are calling on members of the public to give us useful information and to also come forth to give evidence during  prosecution”.

…The charge that   nailed him

Gift Onyegam, was arraigned before the Hon. Justice M. Shuaibu of the Federal High Court 1 Enugu, Enugu State on a four-count charge of obtaining money under false pretence on the 17th of June 2013 by the Economic and Financial Crimes Commission EFCC.

Gift, 33, who hails from Etche Local Government Area of Rivers State, was working as security guard with Anti Risk Security Company in Port Harcourt, Rivers State when he and three other men defrauded Mary Rose Ihekanacho of the sum of N830,000,00, according to the EFCC.

“Gift Onyegam during interrogation had admitted that he introduced himself as Patrick Abah to Mary Rose Ihekanacho, a blind woman, through a telephone conversation with MTN numbers 08165495063 and 0816549506, and that he had promised to help her secure a job for her son with Shell Petroleum Development Company.

“After thorough investigations, the EFCC had charged Gift to court on four counts of obtaining money under false pretences.

Some of the charges read:

That you Gift Onyegam, Sunday Promise (at large), Okon Ayebaye (at large), and Opurum Emeka (at large), sometime in August 2012, in Enugu within the jurisdiction of the Federal High Court of Nigeria with intent to defraud obtained the sum of Five hundred and forty one thousand naira from Rosemary Ihekanacho through a first bank  account number 3050676816 belonging to Okon Ayebaye Susan by false pretence that the said money is meant for securing a job for her son at Shell Petroleum Development Company, which pretence you knew to be false and you thereby committed an offence contrary to Section 1, (1) (a) of Advance Fee Fraud and Other Related Offences Act 2006 and punishable under section 1(3) of the same Act.

Related offences

“That you Gift Onyegam, Sunday Promise (at large), Okon Ayebaye (at large), and Opurum Emeka (at large), sometimes in August 2012, in Enugu within the jurisdiction of the Federal High Court of Nigeria with intent to defraud obtained the sum of Seventy thousand naira from Rosemary Ihekanacho through a first bank  account number 3048914832 belonging to Okon Ayebaye Susan by false pretence that the said money is meant for securing a job for her son at Shell Petroleum Development Company, which pretence you knew to be false and you thereby committed an offence contrary to Section 1, (1) (a) of Advance Fee Fraud and Other Related Offences Act 2006 and punishable under section 1(3) of the same Act.

That you Gift Onyegam, Sunday Promise (at large), Okon Ayebaye (at large), and Opurum Emeka (at large), sometimes in August 2012, in Enugu within the jurisdiction of the Federal High Court of Nigeria with intent to defraud obtained the sum of one hundred thousand naira from Rosemary Ihekanacho through a Diamond bank  account number 0016766663 belonging to Alamabo Teneilabe by false pretence that the said money is meant for securing a job for her son at Shell Petroleum Development Company, which pretence you knew to be false and you thereby committed an offence contrary to Section 1, (1) (a) of Advance Fee Fraud and Other Related Offences Act 2006 and punishable under section 1(3) of the same Act.”

Upon conviction, prosecution counsel, Mainforce Ekwu, had moved an oral application before the court praying the court to prevail on the convict to pay the victim her money, citing section 11 of the Advanced Fee Fraud Act, 2006.

It was upon that order of the court that compelled the convict to cough out the sum of N550,000 out of the N830,000, while still serving his jail term; the balance was still being expected to be paid back to the woman.

What a double tragedy for a con-man.