One Darlington Ogihonmwanghomwan was convicted and sentenced before Justice A. Isiaka of the Kaduna State High Court, sitting in Kaduna, by the Kaduna Zonal Directorate of the Economic and Financial Crimes Commission (EFCC).
Prosecutors brought a single complaint against Ogihonmwanghomwan, alleging that he had deceived them out of 1.2 million Naira.
“That you, Darlington Ogihonmwanghomwan, while operating Hale Bird Poultry Company in Kaduna within the jurisdiction of this Honorable Court, deceived one Zainab Baloni into delivering to you the sum of N1,200,000.00 (One Million, Two Hundred Thousand Naira) only, which belonged to the said Zainab Baloni.
You thus committed an offense contrary to Section 306 (a) of the Kaduna State Penal Code Law, 2017, and are punishable under Section 307 of the same Law.
The prosecution’s counsel, M. U. Gadaka, urged the court to convict and sentence him appropriately after he pleaded “guilty” upon hearing the accusation.
Ogihonmwanghomwan was later handed a three-year prison term by Justice Isiaka, with the possibility of a fine of 100,000 Naira.
After his victim filed a petition, Ogihonmwanghomwan’s road to prison commenced in 2023. The petition states that the victim and the offender first crossed paths on Instagram, where the offender promoted his agricultural enterprise, Hale Bird Poultry Company, as a multi-billion naira enterprise engaged in the industrial production of chicken and eggs.
He allegedly assured them that they could withdraw their money whenever they wanted and that they would receive a five percent return on investment every two days for fifteen days of the month.
The victim said that Ogihonmwanghomwan did not fulfill his commitments and would not return the N1.2 million he had already paid him, no matter how many times the victim tried to get him to.