Fake Lawyer Bags 30 Months for Impersonation

A 52-year-old man, Emmanuel Ojo, who was accused of falsely presenting himself in court as a lawyer, has been sentenced to two and a half years' imprisonment by an Iyaganku Chief Magistrate's Court sitting in Ibadan.

Ojo was sentenced in the same court where he was arrested after claiming to be a counsel representing a client standing trial in the court.

He was exposed and apprehended by some members of the Nigerian Bar Association and later arraigned on March 28, 2017, before Magistrate Abiola Richard.

The case file, with charge number MI/425c/2017, accused Ojo of two counts of conspiracy and impersonation.

The prosecutor, Mr. Sunday Ogunremi, told the court that the accused, and others at large, between 2010 and 2017 at Mobolaji Law Chambers on Winners Way, Basorun, Ibadan, conspired to commit the crime.

He told the court further that on March 27, 2017, the accused announced himself as a counsel while also holding brief in a case with charge number MI/1543c/2016, but was later found out to be an impersonator.

Ogunremi said the offences contravened sections 516 and 484 Code Cap 38, Vol. II, Laws of Oyo State of Nigeria, 2000.

In her ruling, Richard asked Ojo to be sent to prison for 30 months without an option of fine.