Lagos Court Sentences Adonai Institute Provost for Forging LASU Result Notification

A Lagos State High Court in Ikeja has sentenced Samson Orijugo, provost of Adonai Advanced Institute of Management, to three years in prison after finding him guilty of forging an official notification of result bearing the letterhead of Lagos State University, LASU.

Delivering judgment on Wednesday, Justice Modupe Nico-Clay held that the prosecution successfully established the offences of forgery against Orijugo beyond reasonable doubt, leading to his conviction on a two-count charge.

The court found that in 2015, at Badagry, Orijugo produced a falsified LASU notification of result issued to a student, John Chibuzor Okoro, in order to mislead him and his family into believing that Adonai Institute was affiliated with LASU.

Orijugo was arraigned on December 2, 2021, and pleaded not guilty to the charges. Proceedings formally commenced on March 8, 2022.

During the trial, the prosecution, led by Mrs T. Olanrewaju-Daud, presented three witnesses and tendered seven documentary exhibits. Orijugo testified in his own defence.

In her ruling, Justice Nico-Clay concluded that the disputed notification of result was authored and issued by Orijugo and was clearly forged.

She noted that credible evidence before the court showed that Adonai Institute had no academic affiliation with LASU, contrary to the representations made to the student and his parent.

The first prosecution witness, Patience Okoro, mother of the affected student, told the court that Orijugo introduced himself to her as the provost of an institution in the Benin Republic that was affiliated with LASU.

She said her son was later issued a notification of result printed on LASU letterhead after completing his programme.

Okoro testified that she first encountered Orijugo on May 12, 2012, while travelling in a commercial bus from Iyana Oba Market.

According to her, he promoted Adonai Institute, distributed flyers and claimed it had formal ties with LASU.

She said she initially doubted the claim because she was a LASU graduate and had never heard of such an affiliation. However, Orijugo insisted that the institution was reputable and linked to LASU.

Okoro further told the court that she later visited Orijugo’s residence with her son, where he showed them transcripts translated into English and printed on LASU letterhead.

She said she also made enquiries at the Federal Ministry of Education in Abuja, where officials confirmed the school’s recognition but expressed no knowledge of any English or French sections.

Despite these concerns, she enrolled her son through Orijugo and made multiple payments covering tuition, medical fees, mobilisation and convocation, often without receiving receipts.

She said Orijugo repeatedly assured them that her son’s certificate would be issued during convocation, a promise that was never fulfilled.

She explained that the falsity of the documents only came to light in 2018 when her son applied for employment, an experience she said caused him significant psychological distress.

Another prosecution witness, Ojei Oziegbe, an Assistant Chief State Counsel at the Lagos State Ministry of Justice, testified that a letter was written to LASU during the investigation.

The university’s response, which was admitted in evidence, confirmed that Adonai Institute of Management had no affiliation with LASU.

In dismissing the defence’s arguments, the court clarified that the case centred on the forgery of a notification of result, not the issuance of a degree certificate. Justice Nico-Clay noted that Orijugo had admitted issuing the document to the student.

The judge also rejected the claim that a LASU official ought to have been called as a witness, ruling that the documentary evidence obtained from the university was sufficient.

“The document was deliberately presented as genuine on LASU letterhead to give a false impression of affiliation,” the court held, adding that Orijugo, as an administrator, was fully aware that the claim was untrue.

Justice Nico-Clay thereafter convicted Orijugo on both counts and sentenced him to three years’ imprisonment.