Justice Abimbola Awogboro of the Federal High Court sitting in Ilorin, Kwara State has sentenced Muhammad Booker, an entrepreneur from Dikwa Local Government Area of Borno State, to six months imprisonment for offenses involving possession of counterfeit currency and cyber crime.
Justice Awogboro sentenced the defendant after finding him guilty of a two-count charge laid against him by the Ilorin Zonal Directorate of the Economic and Financial Crimes Commission, EFCC.
According to the anti-corruption agency's Director of Information, Babatude Oyedele, Booker was arrested on July 18, 2025, by operatives of the National Drug Law Enforcement Agency (NDLEA) during a sting operation in Gerevu area, Ilorin and later handed over to the EFCC for further investigation after he was found in possession of 93 pieces of $100 bills suspected to be counterfeit.
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Upon investigation, the EFCC also found evidence linking it to cyber crime related activities.
A case against Bukar reads: “You, Mohammed Bukar, on or about the 18th day of July 2025, at Ilorin, within the jurisdiction of this Honorable Court, had in your possession ninety-three (ninety-nine) pieces of $100 (one hundred dollars) bills – ninety nine of which had the same serial number, ME 42703207 A E5, and one piece without a serial number – which you knew to be counterfeit, whereby counterfeit currency (special provision) An offense contrary to section 5(1)(b) of the Act, 1983, and punishable under section 5(1)(c) of the same Act.
When the charges were read to Booker in court, he pleaded guilty.
Following his plea, prosecution counsel Aliyu Adebayo reviewed the facts of the case and called an investigating officer of the EFCC, Abdulhakeem Sani, as a witness. Sani presented several exhibits, including 93 counterfeit $100 notes, real $1,400 (proceeds of his cyber crime activities), and two mobile phones – iPhone 15 and iPhone XR – that were used as instruments of the crime. The items were accepted as evidence.
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Adebayo urged the court to convict the defendant based on the evidence presented and his voluntary confession.
In his judgment, Justice Awogborough found Booker guilty on both counts and sentenced him to three months' imprisonment on each count, to run concurrently.
The court also seized all recovered items – including counterfeit currencies, two iPhones and $1,400 returned to the Federal Government of Nigeria.
