LASU Result Forgery: Lagos High Court Jails Adonai Institute Provost for Three Years
A Lagos State High Court sitting in Ikeja has convicted and sentenced Samson Orijugo, Provost of Adonai Advanced Institute of Management, to three years’ imprisonment for forgery.
Delivering judgment on Wednesday, Justice Modupe Nico‑Clay found Orijugo guilty on a two‑count charge of forging a notification of result on the letterhead of Lagos State University (LASU). The court held that the prosecution had proved its case beyond reasonable doubt.
The offence occurred in 2015 at Badagry, where Orijugo issued a forged notification of result to a student, John Chibuzor Okoro, falsely representing that Adonai Institute was affiliated with LASU.
Orijugo was arraigned on December 2, 2021, pleaded not guilty, and trial commenced on March 8, 2022. The prosecution, led by Mrs. T. Olanrewaju‑Daud, called three witnesses and tendered seven exhibits. Orijugo testified in his own defence.
Patience Okoro, mother of the student, testified that she met Orijugo in 2012, when he introduced himself as provost of a Benin Republic‑based institution affiliated with LASU. He later issued her son a notification of result on LASU letterhead. She recounted making several payments for tuition, medical fees, mobilisation, and convocation, often without receipts, only to discover years later that the documents were fake when her son sought employment in 2018.
Ojei Oziegbe, Assistant Chief State Counsel at the Lagos State Ministry of Justice, testified that LASU confirmed in writing that Adonai Institute had no affiliation with the university. These letters were admitted in evidence.
Justice Nico‑Clay held that: the forged notification of result was issued by Orijugo and presented as genuine on LASU letterhead to create a false impression of affiliation, Adonai Institute had no connection with LASU, contrary to Orijugo’s representations. The case was not about issuance of a degree certificate but the forgery of a notification of result, which Orijugo admitted handing to the student. Documentary evidence from LASU was sufficient; calling a LASU official was unnecessary.
The court concluded that Orijugo, as administrator of the institution, knew the claim of affiliation was false. He was therefore convicted on both counts and sentenced to three years’ imprisonment.
