A Lagos State High Court sitting in Ikeja on Wednesday convicted and sentenced the Provost of Adonai Advanced Institute of Management, Mr Samson Orijugo, to three years’ imprisonment for forgery involving the use of Lagos State University (LASU) documents.

Justice Modupe Nico-Clay found Orijugo guilty on a two-count charge of forgery, holding that the prosecution proved its case beyond reasonable doubt.

The court held that Orijugo, in 2015 at Badagry, forged a notification of result on LASU letterhead purportedly issued to a student, Mr John Chibuzor Okoro, to falsely represent that Adonai Advanced Institute of Management was affiliated with LASU.

Orijugo was arraigned on Dec. 2, 2021, and pleaded not guilty to the charges. His trial commenced on March 8, 2022.

During the trial, the prosecution, led by Mrs T. Olanrewaju-Daud, called three witnesses and tendered seven exhibits in evidence, while the defendant testified in his own defence.

Delivering judgment, Justice Nico-Clay held that the notification of result presented before the court was issued by Orijugo and was forged.

She said the evidence before the court clearly established that Adonai Institute had no affiliation whatsoever with LASU, contrary to the representations allegedly made by the convict to the student and his mother.

The first prosecution witness, Mrs Patience Okoro, the student’s mother, testified that Orijugo introduced himself to her as the provost of a Benin Republic-based institution that was affiliated with LASU.

She told the court that Orijugo issued her son a notification of result on LASU letterhead after the completion of his studies.

According to her testimony, she met Orijugo on May 12, 2012, in a commercial bus while returning from Iyana Oba Market in Lagos.

She said Orijugo spoke extensively about Adonai University, distributed flyers, and claimed that the institution was affiliated with LASU.

Okoro further told the court that she initially doubted his claims because she was a LASU graduate and had never heard of such an affiliation, but Orijugo insisted that the institution was among the best universities in the Benin Republic and affiliated with LASU.

She said she later visited Orijugo’s residence with her son, where he showed them transcripts allegedly translated into English and printed on LASU letterhead.

The witness added that she made independent enquiries at the Federal Ministry of Education in Abuja, where officials confirmed that the school was recognised but stated that they were unaware of any English or French sections of the institution.

Okoro testified that she subsequently enrolled her son through Orijugo and made several payments covering tuition, medical fees, mobilisation and convocation, often without being issued receipts.

She said Orijugo repeatedly promised that her son’s certificate would be released during convocation, but failed to fulfil the promise.

According to her, it was later discovered in 2018 that the documents were fake when her son sought employment, an experience she said caused him severe psychological trauma.

Another prosecution witness, Mrs Ojei Oziegbe, an Assistant Chief State Counsel in the Lagos State Ministry of Justice, told the court that she wrote to LASU during the investigation.

She said the university responded in writing, confirming that Adonai Institute of Management was not affiliated with LASU. The correspondence was admitted as evidence.

In dismissing the defence put forward by Orijugo, the court held that the case was not about the issuance of a degree certificate but the forgery of a notification of result, which the defendant admitted he handed to the student.

Justice Nico-Clay also rejected the argument that the prosecution was required to call a LASU official as a witness, ruling that the documentary evidence obtained from the university was sufficient.

“The document was presented as genuine on an LASU letterhead to create a false impression of affiliation,” the judge held, adding that Orijugo, as an administrator of the institution, knew that the claim was false.

She consequently convicted Orijugo on both counts and sentenced him to three years’ imprisonment.