Justice Muhammad Saidu Sifawa of Sokoto State High Court has convicted and sentenced Labaran Aliyu and Abdulraham Lawal to two years imprisonment each for cheating.
They were jailed on Wednesday, February 11, 2026, after pleading guilty to one -count separate charges of cheating.
The charge against Aliyu reads ” That you Labaran Aliyu, male, sometimes in 2025 within the jurisdiction of the High Court of Sokoto State with intent to defraud, fraudulently obtained the sum of N7,000,000.00 from unsuspecting victims under pretense to wit: false representation of yourself as having power to double money and thereafter used the money to buy a Mercedes GLK with chassis number WDCGG8HB5AF315979, thereby committing an offence of cheating contrary to Section 310 of the Sokoto State Penal Code Law and punishable under Section 311 the same law”.
The charge against Lawal reads “That you Abdulrahman Lawal, male sometimes in 2025 within the jurisdiction of the High Court of Sokoto State, with intent to defraud, fraudulently obtained the sum of N110,000.00 from unsuspecting victims to wit: false representation of yourself as having power to double money thereby committing an offence of cheating contrary to Section 310 of the Sokoto State Penal Code Law and punishable under Section 311 the same law”.
The two defendants pleaded guilty to their charges, prompting prosecution counsel, Aliyu Bokani Usman, to pray the court to convict and sentence them accordingly.
Justice Sifawa convicted and sentenced Aliyu to two years imprisonment with an option of ₦100,000.00 ( One Hundred Thousand Naira) fine. She also ordered the forfeiture of a Mercedes-Benz GLK car acquired from the proceeds of crime to the victim.
The judge also convicted and sentenced Lawal to two years imprisonment with an option of ₦100,000.00( One Hundred Thousand Naira) fine. He forfeited a Samsung S10E phone, being a proceeds of crime to the government.
The convicts bagged their imprisonment when the EFCC charged them to court, relying on its intelligence showing that both convicts belong to the infamous “sai mallam” cult operating within the Sokoto environment and infamous for enticing and cajoling unsuspecting members of the public under the guise of being powerful marabouts capable of making people wealthy.
They drew victims from the Niger Republic, Côte d’Ivoire, Cameroon and Burkina Faso.
