Crime • Created April 13, 2018 02:00

Magistrate bags 3-year jail for N.1m bribe

An FCT High Court in Maitama, Abuja has sentenced a magistrate accused of demanding for bribe to influence judgment to three years imprisonment. The Chief Judge of the FCT High Court, Justice Ishaq Bello, held that magistrate Mohammed Balogun was guilty of the two-count charge bordering on demanding gratification levied against him by the Independent […]

Magistrate bags 3-year jail for N.1m bribe
Magistrate bags 3-year jail for N.1m bribe

An FCT High Court in Maitama, Abuja has sentenced a magistrate accused of demanding for bribe to influence judgment to three years imprisonment.

The Chief Judge of the FCT High Court, Justice Ishaq Bello, held that magistrate Mohammed Balogun was guilty of the two-count charge bordering on demanding gratification levied against him by the Independent Corrupt Practices and other Related Offences Commission (ICPC).

The ICPC alleged that Balogun on Sept. 21, 2003, demanded from one Dr Isidore Nnadi the sum of N100,000 in order to influence in his favour judgments in his two cases pending in his (Balogun’s) court. Of the N100,000 bribe demanded, it was further alleged that Balogun collected N50,000 as initial deposit from Nnadi. 

The offences are said to be contrary to Section 10 (1) and (2) of the Corrupt Practices and Other Related Offences Act, 2000.

Justice Bello, while delivering judgment held that the convict being a first time offender, pleaded with the court for leniency, adding that the convict had suffered severe psychological distress since the matter started in 2013 even to the point of his family deserting him.

“Considering the fact that he was entrusted with the mantle of authority as a chief magistrate to do justice to all manner of people without fear or favour, what he did was outright abuse and disregard of his oath of office and this is not a conduct expected of a judicial officer,” he held.

The judge held that he acknowledged the position of the prosecution that the convict is a first time offender, “Nevertheless, I hereby sentence the convict to a three-year period of imprisonment or to pay a fine of N500,000,” he held.

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