Court jails Mama Boko Haram five years for N6m fraud

A high court in Maiduguri, Borno State, has sentenced Aisha Wakil, popularly known as “Mama Boko Haram,” to five years imprisonment for fraud.

The conviction, delivered on November 28, 2024, by Justice Aisha Kumaliya, marks Wakil’s sixth fraud-related conviction in the past 30 months.

Alongside Wakil, two others, Tahiru Daura and Lawal Shoyode, both officials of her NGO, Complete Care and Aid Foundation, received the same sentence.

The defendants were prosecuted by the Economic and Financial Crimes Commission (EFCC) on charges of cheating, conspiracy, and giving false information in a case involving N6 million.

They were accused of obtaining a Toyota Camry under false pretenses, neither paying for the car nor returning it.

Despite pleading not guilty, the prosecution presented evidence and witnesses that led to their conviction.

The court also ordered them to jointly repay N3.5 million to the petitioner or face an additional five years imprisonment.

This is not Wakil’s first fraud conviction. In June 2022, she was sentenced to five years imprisonment for a N71.4 million fraud case.

In August and September 2022, she received two separate seven-year sentences for N66 million and N15 million fraud cases, respectively.

In December 2022, she was jailed for 10 years over a N120.5 million fraud. Most recently, in February 2024, she was sentenced to 10 years imprisonment for conspiring to defraud someone of N40 million.