The Rivers State Police Command reprimands ladies who are in the habit of collecting transport fares from male counterparts with a promise to visit them, but fail to do so, maintaining that such acts amount to fraud punishable by law
By Chinedu Oguh, Port Harcourt
The Rivers State Police Command has warned that collecting transport from men without showing up for an agreed meeting is a crime that would lead to arrest and jail.
The Command’s Spokesperson, Grace Iringe-Koko, a Superintendent of Police (SP) gave the warning in a video that has gone viral on social media. She said the act fails under obtaining money under false pretence, which is punishable under Nigerian Law.
“Taking transport from a man without honouring the visit is an offence. The law considers it fraudulent, and anyone found guilty could face arrest and prosecution,” Iringe-Koko said, while also advising Nigerians to avoid any financial dealings built on lies or deceit.
“People must desist from practices that involve lies and deceit. If reported, offenders will be made to face the law,” he added.
Under Section 419 of the Nigerian Criminal Code, obtaining money or property by false pretence is a felony that carries several years of imprisonment.
The warning comes after a recent case where a woman was convicted for a similar offence. She was given the option of paying a N450,000 fine or serving seven years in prison after collecting transport fare and blocking the man who sent the money.
A female legal practitioner, Confidence Aribibia totally agreed with Rivers State Police Command Spokesperson, saying, “Collecting transport money and not showing up is against the law. The N5,000 or N10,000 you collected as transport fare, but never showed up, in the eyes of the law, it’s not just vibes, it’s obtained by false pretence.”
She explained that the law doesn’t care about your excuses, noting, “Once you collected the money under the pretence of coming, but you never intended to, you have crossed into criminal territory.
“For example, a man sends N10,000 to a lady for transport from Asaba to Warri. She collects the money, knowing she will never travel and switches off her phone. In law the N10,000 was obtained fraudulently. If reported, the police can arrest her for obtaining by false pretence.
What you call “Just transport” is legally a financial transaction. Once you collect the money under pretence, it becomes a criminal offence if you don’t deliver.
So, before you say “It’s just transport” remember what you call cruise, the law calls a crime”, she added.
According to Cable, the Nigerian Lady who went viral after a courtroom video showed her being sentenced for collecting transport money from a man but failed to visit him has cried out about her ordeal.
Identified as Jennifer, she was handed a seven-year jail term with an option of paying N450,000 fine after being sued by a man named Emmanuel, who claimed she breached a promise to see him after receiving N50,000 from him.
Narrating her version of events, she said she had never seen Emmanuel in person and that she only knew him online. Jennifer who confirmed that she had since paid the fine describing the entire episode as both “surprising and unnecessary”
According to her, the relationship remained virtual until Emmanuel insisted that she should travel from Asaba to Abuja to meet him. Jennifer said she declined, asking him instead to visit her first since they had no prior physical interaction; Emmanuel however rejected the suggestion stating he would not travel to see a woman. Despite the disagreement, she claimed that without her consent, he subsequently sent N50,000 for transportation fare and expected her to show up the following day.
“I did not reply to his message because I never agreed to travel,” Jennifer said. “The next day, he kept asking why I was not there. Then, his friends started calling and threatening me, I became uncomfortable and reached out to him, asking for his account details so I could return the money, he refused”.
She added that after a second attempt to refund the money failed, she suggested Emmanuel use it to come to her city instead. But by then, the matter had already escalated into a lawsuit.
The legal proceedings ended with Jennifer being convicted and given the option of a hefty fine. She said she eventually paid N450,000 to settle the case, insisting the amount meant little to her compared to the public attention it generated.
“Honestly, it was shocking. How can N50,000 turn into N450,000? But I thank God, it is over. I don’t want to say much more because the case has been sorted,” she said.
While some social commentators questioned Emmanuel’s decision to donate money to a stranger, others criticized her behaviour.
A lawyer, Mr. James Aggrey said what should concern her most now is the stigma of “ex convict” and not the public attention the issue has generated.
According to him, in Nigeria Law, a person who pays an option of fine instead of serving a prison sentence can still be considered an ex-convict. This is because the term “ex-convict” refers to someone who has been convicted of a crime, regardless of whether they served a term in prison or paid a fine.
He went further to say that the Nigerian Constitution and Laws do not explicitly define an ex-convict as someone who has only served a term in prison. Instead, the focus is on the fact that the person has been convicted of a crime.
For instance, Section 137 (1) (d) of the Nigerian Electoral Act 2010 (as amended) states that a person who has been convicted of a crime and sentenced to imprisonment for at least two years cannot hold public office until 10 years after the expiration of the sentence or the date of payment of the fine.
