A Borno State High Court in Maiduguri has delivered a significant judgment, sentencing Aisha Alkali Wakil, popularly known as “Mama Boko Haram,” along with her associates Tahiru Saidu Daura and Prince Lawal Shoyode, to 14 years imprisonment each. The conviction, handed down by Justice Aisha Kumaliya on Wednesday, June 25, 2025, stems from a case of fraud involving a fictitious contract worth N11 million. This trial commenced in September 2020, following their arraignment by the Economic and Financial Crimes Commission (EFCC).

The trio, who managed the non-governmental organization (NGO) Complete Care and Aid Foundation—with Wakil as Chief Executive Officer, Daura as Programme Manager, and Shoyode as Country Director—were prosecuted on two counts of conspiracy and obtaining money by false pretence. According to the EFCC spokesperson, Dele Oyewale, the defendants fraudulently obtained N11 million from Muhammed Ambare of Muhammed Ambare Ventures in July 2018. This sum was acquired under the false claim of supplying and servicing two X-ray machines, a contract that the EFCC confirmed to be entirely non-existent. Specifically, count two of the charges stated that Aisha Alkali Wakil, Tahiru Saidu Daura, Prince Lawal Shoyode, and Saidu Mukhtar (now at large) “with intent to defraud, obtained N11,000,000.00 from one Muhammed Ambare under the false pretence of executing a contract for supply, installation, and servicing of 2 units of X-Ray Machine Model 1800, which you knew to be false…”

Despite pleading not guilty, which necessitated a full trial, the prosecution—led by Mukhtar Ali Ahmed and S.O. Saka—successfully presented one witness and various documentary pieces of evidence to the court. Justice Kumaliya found them guilty on both counts. Consequently, each of the three defendants received a sentence of seven years on each count, to run concurrently. The court further ordered them to jointly and severally restitute the sum of N8 million to the victim. Failure to repay this amount will result in an additional seven-year jail term for each convict.

This conviction adds to a history of legal troubles for Wakil and her associates. In December 2024, the same court had sentenced them to five years’ imprisonment each for defrauding a businessman of N6 million. That previous case involved another false contract related to the purchase of a Toyota Camry, where the prosecution presented three witnesses and documentary evidence. For that conviction, the judge ordered the restitution of N3.5 million to the petitioner, with an additional five-year sentence in default of payment. Other significant convictions against Aisha Alkali Wakil, often alongside her associates, include a five-year imprisonment in June 2022 for N71.4 million fraud, a seven-year imprisonment in August 2022 for N66 million fraud, and another seven-year imprisonment in September 2022 for N15 million fraud. In December 2022, she was jailed for 10 years in a N120.5 million fraud case. Additionally, in February 2024, Wakil, Daura, and Lawal were sentenced to 10 years imprisonment for conspiracy, cheating, and obtaining N40 million by false pretence. All these convictions were successfully secured by the EFCC’s Maiduguri Zonal Directorate.