Apapa Magistrate court had on Tuesday sentenced a 40-year-old man, Morgan Mohammed to five years imprisonment for masquerading as an officer of the Nigerian Customs Service (NCS) and duping victims of N454,000.

According to the News Agency Nigeria (NAN), Magistrate T.O Babalola, charged the 40-year-old man after he pleaded guilty to three counts of masquerading, stealing and obtaining under false pretence.

Babalola said, “Based on the facts of this case, confirmed report and the plea of leniency, I hereby sentence you to five years imprisonment with an option to pay back the total sum stolen from the complainants.

”The court also sentences the convict to six months community service for the charge of impersonation.”

The prosecutor, Sgt. Friday Inedu, had earlier told the court that the convict committed the offence between August and October 2018 at Agip Estate, Satelite Town, Lagos.

He said that the convict paraded himself as an NCS officer to Mr Ibewuike Emeka, Ogechi Ezeaka and Musa Dauda, and collected N114,000 on the basis of getting a job for them.

The prosecutor said that Mohammed also collected N340,0000 from Vivian Nweke and Thelma Raji, with a guarantee to supply 30 bags of rice each to them.

He also told the court that the convict stole items worth N113,000 from Raji.

Inedu added that when the complainants found that they had been defrauded by the convict, they reported the matter to the police and Mohammed was apprehended for interrogation.

He also said that the offence breached provisions of sections 78, 287 and 314 of the Criminal Law of Lagos State, 2019.