A Magistrates’ Court sitting in Ado-Ekiti in Ekiti State has convicted one Abayomi Kayode for six months for parading himself as a lawyer in the state.
The Ikere branch of the Nigerian Bar Association (NBA) had earlier petitioned the police over the defendant’s activities in the state, where he was using a forged lawyer’s seal and claimed to have graduated from the Ekiti State University, which was proved to be false.
The magistrate, I. T Ola-Olorun, in a judgment delivered on Friday, held that the accused was found guilty on a two-count charge with an option to pay a fine of N50,000 respectively.
Counsel to the defendant, Tope Salami, had earlier pleaded that the court be considerate with his client since he pleaded guilty and showed remorse.
The NBA Chairman, Ikere Branch, Kike Owolabi, while responding to the court judgment, said that the fake lawyer remained a convict despite the fact he was given an option of a fine.
She asserted that he was identified as a fake lawyer through intelligence reports, noting that his case was an eye-opener to the legal profession.
”He pleaded guilty to the charges and admitted that he was a fake lawyer. The court convicted him with the option of a fine, although he paid. He remains an ex-convict as of today.
“We got to know through some intelligence reports but I met him about three months ago and we have been tracking him down.
“This is an eye-opener to us that some individuals can impersonate our profession.
“Measures have been taken to curb such occurrences in the future in a bid to protect the profession from quacks. As Ikere branch of NBA, we have decided to open a call log register for all of our members. Each of the associates is to take details of our lawyers and verify their certificates to ensure that no one impersonates the legal profession.
“We intend to extend that to other branches in Ekiti to ensure that we rid the profession of fake lawyers,” she said.
