By Joy Kaka
Abuja, The FCT High Court sitting in Kubwa, on Tuesday, sentenced Joy Tiemo, an employee of the Nigeria Social Insurance Trust Fund (NSITF), to six months in prison for making false statements to public officers.
Tiemo, who was prosecuted by the Independent Corrupt Practices and other Related Offences Commission (ICPC), had pleaded guilty to the charges and asked the court for leniency.
Justice Kezziah Ogbonnaya, subsequently, convicted and sentenced her to six months in the correction centre.
The judge also ordered Tiemo to pay N500, 000 fine and volunteer as an anti-corruption crusader.
Ogbonnaya also ordered that the convict serves her prison term at the Suleja Correctional Facility where she should begin her anti-corruption crusade.
Earlier, the ICPC prosecution counsel, Aniekan Ekong told the court that a plea bargain agreement had been signed by the defendant and the defence counsel, Udu Diegbe, and its terms adopted.
Ekong said that the terms of the plea bargain was that the defendant shall plead guilty and undertake to be of good conduct and serve as an anti-corruption crusader going forward.
The prosecution counsel added that the defendant shall serve a non-custodial sentence by payment of N500,000 only as fine upon her plea of guilty thereby saving official time, energy and state resources.
The News Agency of Nigeria (NAN) reports that Joy made false statements to public officer(s) serving in the Administration Department of NISTF and having powers to obtain and document personnel records in the course of the exercise of their official duties.
The prosecution counsel said that she claimed she was awarded a Bachelor of Education Degree Certificate by the University of Calabar, which she knew was false.
He added that she also submitted conflicting National Youth Service Corps (NYSC) Certificates of Exemption purportedly emanating from the NYSC dated March 6 2007 and March 9, 2009 respectively sometime in 2013.
The offences, he said, contravened section 25 (1) (a), and punishable under section 25 (1)(b) of the Corrupt Practices and Other Related Offences Act, 2000.(NAN)(www.nannews.ng)
