Pastor And Mallam Sentenced To 1 Year In Jail Over Fertilizer Fraud

An Ado-Ekiti Magistrates’ court on Wednesday sentenced one Deeper life pastor, Anjorin Adaniki, 42 and one Mallam Maliu Aliu to one year jail for fertilizer fraud in Ekiti State.

The convicts were accused of selling 800 bags of fertilizer to farmers in Emure Local Government at N3,500 instead of subsidised rate of N2,750 per bag.
The Police Prosecutor, Sgt.Oriyomo Akinwale, told the court that the accused committed the offence between May and June, 2013 at Emure-Ekiti.


Oriyomi said the bags of fertilizer in three trailer loads were released by the government to help farmers, but the accused fraudulently converted them for their own personal gains.
According to him, the offence contravened Section 1(3) of the Advanced Fee Fraud and other Related Offence Act LFN 2006.

The counsel for the accused, Mr Ademola Okeya, in his allocution pleaded with the court to tamper justice with mercy.

But the presiding Magistrate, Bayode Owoeye, said the action of the pastor was callous, by converting the bags of fertilizer for their own gains against the order of the government price to the farmers.

He thereafter sentenced them to one year  imprisonment without the option of a fine.