Justice R.I.B. Adeniyi of the State High Court sitting in Ikeja Lagos, on Wednesday, July 9, 2025, convicted and sentenced outdoor advertising guru, Mohammed Gobir, to seven years imprisonment for N300m fraud.
His journey to prison began after he was arrested by the operatives of EFCC at his Ikoyi, Lagos residence on September 12, 2015, following a petition received by the Commission from an outdoor advertising company, Afromedia.
Gobir, according to the petitioner, was introduced to the company by its private placement consultants, Synergy Capital Advisory Limited, sometime in 2008.
He, thereafter, offered to invest the sum of N1 billion in Afromedia, a pretext that earned him a position as Chairman, Business Development Committee, on the Board of Directors.
Investigation showed that Gobir, having earned the trust of the company’s Board, defrauded the company of several millions in hard currency.
He was subsequently arraigned on March 17, 2016, by the Economic and Financial Crimes Commission, EFCC, on a 17-count charge bordering on obtaining under false pretence, stealing, possession of fraudulent documents and forgery.
One of the counts reads: That you, Mohammed Gobir, a non-Executive Director and Chairman of Business Development Committee of Afromedia PLC, between January 2009 and December 2011 in Lagos, within the jurisdiction of this Honourable Court, with intent to defraud, obtained the sum of N514,457,151.87 (Five Hundred and Fourteen Million, Four Hundred and Fifty Seven Thousand, One Hundred and Fifty One Naira, Eighty Seven Kobo) from Afromedia Plc by falsely pretending to Afromedia PLC that the said sum of money represented the cost of facilitating and securing the sum of $70,000,000 (Seventy Million Dollars) from your account in NATWEST Bank, London, United Kingdom as your investment fund in Afromedia PLC out of the $250,000,000 (Two Hundred and Fifty Million United States Dollars) stashed in your account at NATWEST Bank, London, United Kingdom which pretence you Knew to be false and thereby committed an offence contrary to Section 1(3) of the Advance Fee Fraud and Other Fraud Related Offences Act, No . 14, 2006.”
He pleaded “ not guilty” to the charge, thereby leading to his full trial.
During the trial, the prosecution counsel, Nnaemeka Omewa, called four witnesses and tendered several documents that were admitted in evidence against the defendant. The defence counsel, Y.B. Bayero called three witnesses.
Delivering judgement on Wednesday, Justice Adebiyi convicted and sentenced the defendant to seven years imprisonment on count 1 of obtaining under false pretence; counts four and five of stealing and counts 8, 11, 14 & 17 of possession of fraudulent documents.
He was sentenced to six months imprisonment on counts four and five of stealing.
The sentences are to run concurrently.
The judge ordered the convict to pay restitution of $1 million USD and ₦123 million for the convictions on counts four and five for stealing.
The restitution is to be paid to the nominal complainant.
The court, however, discharged him on the counts of forgery and being in possession of forged documents.
