A Lagos State High Court in Ikeja has sentenced Samson Orijugo, the provost of Adonai Advanced Institute of Management, to three years in prison for forging a notification of results on the letterhead of Lagos State University, LASU.

 

Justice Modupe Nico-Clay convicted Orijugo on a two-count charge of forgery, ruling that the prosecution proved its case beyond a reasonable doubt. According to the court, Orijugo forged the result notification in 2015 at Badagry for one John Chibuzor Okoro, a student of Adonai Institute, using LASU’s letterhead. The forged document falsely suggested that Adonai Institute was affiliated with LASU.

 

Orijugo was initially arraigned on December 2, 2021, and pleaded not guilty to the charges. His trial began on March 8, 2022. During the trial, the prosecution, led by Mrs. T. Olanrewaju-Daud, presented three witnesses and seven exhibits. Orijugo also testified in his defense.

 

In her judgment, Justice Nico-Clay stated that the notification of results submitted to the court had been forged and issued by Orijugo himself. She pointed out that Adonai Institute had no official ties to LASU, despite the false claims made to the student and his family.

 

The first prosecution witness, Patience Okoro, mother of the affected student, testified that Orijugo had introduced himself as the provost of an institution in the Benin Republic that was purportedly affiliated with LASU. She explained that after meeting Orijugo on May 12, 2012, in a commercial bus, he persuaded her to enroll her son at Adonai Institute by showing them transcripts on LASU letterhead, falsely claiming affiliation with the university.

 

Despite her initial doubts, Okoro later enrolled her son at the institute, making multiple payments for tuition, medical fees, and other charges, often without receipts. She stated that Orijugo repeatedly promised her son’s certificate would be issued during convocation but failed to deliver.

 

READ ALSO:

FEDERAL HIGH COURT ANNOUNCES ANNUAL VACATION FOR JUDGES

 

The forgery was only uncovered in 2018 when her son sought employment and the certificate was deemed fake. This revelation caused significant emotional distress for Okoro’s son.

Another key witness, Ojei Oziegbe, an Assistant Chief State Counsel at the Lagos State Ministry of Justice, testified that she had contacted LASU during the investigation and received confirmation that Adonai Institute was not affiliated with the university. The court admitted the letters as evidence.

 

The court rejected the defense put forward by Orijugo, which argued that the case concerned the issuance of a degree certificate, not the forged notification of result. Justice Nico-Clay emphasized that the central issue was the forgery of the result notification, which Orijugo had admitted to issuing.

 

The court also dismissed the argument that a LASU official needed to testify, stating that the documentary evidence provided by LASU was sufficient to prove the case. The judge noted that Orijugo, as the administrator of Adonai Institute, was aware that the claim of affiliation with LASU was false.

Justice Nico-Clay sentenced Orijugo to three years in prison on both counts of forgery, bringing a significant conclusion to a case that exposed fraudulent practices in the education sector.

 

Source: Punch