Nigeria: Officials get 40 years for corruption

By Rafiu Ajakaye

LAGOS, Nigeria (AA) - A Nigerian court on Tuesday gave lengthy jail sentences to three top officials of a government institute for diverting $580,000 in public funds.

Benjamen Ogunmodede, head of the Institute of Agricultural, Research and Training, and the school’s accountants Zacheus Tejumola and Adenekan Clement were sentenced to 40 years in jail apiece without the option of commutation for charges including criminal conspiracy and stealing a government grant.

They had been arraigned since 2011 on 16 counts of corruption. The trio claimed to have used the money to bribe parliamentarians and Finance Ministry officials who facilitated the $2 million grant.

Federal High Court Judge Ayo Emmanuel said the accused were “clearly guilty of bribery and money laundering” charges against them and should be punished in line with the country's laws.

He stressed that the sentences would promote “deterrence of those with similar criminal tendencies and rehabilitation of the accused.”