Polytechnic Lecturer, Accomplice Jailed 11 Years for N50m Extortion in Akwa Ibom
The Akwa Ibom State High Court, Ikot Ekpene Division, has sentenced Abel Udo Jacob, a lecturer at Akwa Ibom State Polytechnic, and his associate, Innocent Nicholas Ntokon, to a combined term of 11 years’ imprisonment for their roles in a N50 million extortion scheme.
Delivering judgment, Justice Augustine Odokwo found that between 2016 and 2020, the convicts subjected businessman Edikan Jacob Jackson to sustained threats, intimidation, and financial exploitation. The court held that Ntokon, identified as a leader of the Klans Confraternity, orchestrated a campaign of terror, deploying armed enforcers to the victim’s shops and issuing threats against his family to compel monthly payments.
Jacob, the lecturer, was adjudged to have facilitated the scheme by channeling the extorted funds through his bank account, acting as the syndicate’s “financial clearinghouse.” His defence that the monies were linked to purported “NDDC roofing contracts” was dismissed as untenable and inconsistent with the evidence.
In a strongly worded ruling, Justice Odokwo described Ntokon as “a predator who used the cloak of a trader to conceal the heart of a hardened cultist and extortionist.” Ntokon was sentenced to eight years for offences including demanding with menace, stealing, terrorism, and cultism, while Jacob received three years for demanding with menace, stealing, and terrorism. The sentences are to run concurrently.
The court further ordered both men to jointly and severally pay N25 million in restitution to the victim. A Toyota Avensis and a Mercedes-Benz, identified as proceeds of crime, were forfeited to the state for auction, with proceeds to serve as partial restitution. Justice Odokwo emphasized that “crime must not pay.”
