Akwa Ibom court jails cultist, lecturer over ₦50m extortion scheme, orders restitution and forfeiture of luxury vehicles

The High Court of Akwa Ibom State sitting in Ikot Ekpene on Wednesday sentenced a cultist, Innocent Ntokon, and a lecturer at Akwa Ibom State Polytechnic, Abel Udo Jacob, to various prison terms for their roles in a financial extortion scheme involving more than ₦50,000,000.

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Trial judge, Justice Augustine Odokwo, found the defendants guilty of subjecting a local businessman, Edikan Jacob Jackson, to what the court described as a merciless extortion racket that led to the loss of over ₦50,000,000 and the near-collapse of his family’s legacy business.

The court held that between 2016 and 2020, Innocent Ntokon used his position as a leader in the Klans Konfraternity to terrorise the victim.

Evidence before the court detailed how Ntokon allegedly deployed armed enforcers to the victim’s shops and issued death threats against the victim’s mother and sisters to compel monthly payments.

Abel Udo Jacob, who holds a postgraduate degree in engineering and lectures at Akwa Ibom State Polytechnic, was found to have acted as the financial clearinghouse for the syndicate, receiving and processing funds extorted from the victim.

Justice Augustine Odokwo rejected the lecturer’s defence that he believed the funds moving through his account were linked to “NDDC roofing contracts,” describing the explanation as wholly inconsistent with common sense.

At the end of the two-hour judgment, both defendants pleaded for leniency.

In considering the plea, Justice Augustine Odokwo observed that the victim was psychologically terrorised for four years and suffered profound financial distress, adding that the court must weigh the gravity of the trauma inflicted.

Justice Augustine Odokwo described Innocent Ntokon as a predator who hid behind the façade of legitimate trade while operating as a hardened and remorseless extortionist.

Innocent Ntokon was sentenced to eight years’ imprisonment on counts including demanding with menace, stealing, terrorism and cultism.

Abel Udo Jacob received a maximum sentence of three years for demanding with menace, stealing and terrorism. The sentences are to run concurrently.

In a decisive move to ensure that crime does not pay, the court ordered the convicts to jointly and severally pay ₦25,000,000 in restitution to the victim.

The court also directed that a Toyota Avensis and a Mercedes-Benz identified as proceeds of crime be forfeited to the state and auctioned to provide partial restitution to the nominal complainant.

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The ruling underscores the judiciary’s resolve to confront organised financial crimes and protect small businesses from predatory schemes that threaten livelihoods and economic stability.