EFCC: Two Pastors Bag 26-Year Sentence For Stealing

The Economic and Financial Crimes Commission (EFCC) on Monday revealed that Justice F. N. Azinge of the Delta State High Court sitting in Otor-Udu has convicted and sentenced the duo of Pastor Glory Okeoghene Aberefa and Reverend Vincent Okpogo to 16 and 10 years imprisonment respectively.

EFCC, in a press statement, said the convicts, alongside their company, Mustard Seed Micro Investment Limited, were prosecuted by the Benin Zonal Office of the Economic and Financial Crimes Commission, EFCC, on 16-count charges, bordering on conspiracy to steal and stealing, contrary to Section 516 and 390 (9) of the Criminal Code, CAP 21, Vol 1, Laws of Delta State of Nigeria, 2006.

They pleaded “not guilty” to the charges, upon their arraignment on June 19, 2017.

Their trial by the EFCC legal team of V. O. Agbaje and K. U. Udus followed a petition and investigation which fingered them in the stealing of the sum of N32,516,620.00 (Thirty-Two Million, Five Hundred and Sixteen Thousand, Six Hundred and Twenty Naira).

The first defendant, Pastor Aberefa was sentenced to one year imprisonment on each of the 16 counts, while the second defendant, Reverend Okpogo was sentenced to one year imprisonment each on count seven to 16, all of which run consecutively.

Trouble started for the convicts, when under the guise of running a finance company, defrauded dozens of unsuspecting members of the public of millions of naira, through their fraudulent Mustard Seed Micro Investment Limited.