A lecturer at Akwa Ibom State Polytechnic, Abel Udo Jacob, and his accomplice, Innocent Nicholas Ntokon, have been sentenced to a combined 11-year imprisonment for their roles in a N50 million extortion racket.
Delivering judgment on Wednesday, Justice Augustine Odokwo of the Akwa Ibom State High Court found the duo guilty of subjecting businessman Edikan Jacob Jackson to years of intimidation, threats, and financial exploitation between 2016 and 2020.
Court documents revealed that Ntokon, allegedly a leader of the notorious Klans Confraternity, orchestrated a sustained campaign of terror against the victim.
Armed enforcers were reportedly sent to the victim’s shops, and threats were issued against his family to coerce monthly payments.
Jacob, the polytechnic lecturer, was described by the court as the “financial clearinghouse” for the syndicate, facilitating the transfer of extorted funds through his personal bank account.
His defense—that the money was connected to “NDDC roofing contracts”—was dismissed by the judge as unreasonable and inconsistent with evidence.
In a two-hour judgment, Justice Odokwo condemned Ntokon as “a predator who used the cloak of a trader to hide the heart of a hardened and merciless cultist and extortionist.”
Ntokon was sentenced to eight years for demanding with menace, theft, terrorism, and cultism, while Jacob received three years for demanding with menace, theft, and terrorism.
The sentences will run concurrently, totaling 11 years.
The court also ordered the convicts to pay N25 million in restitution jointly and severally to the victim. Additionally, a Toyota Avensis and a Mercedes-Benz, identified as proceeds of the crime, were forfeited to the state and are to be auctioned, with the proceeds directed to the complainant.
Justice Odokwo stressed that the verdict sends a clear signal: crime will not pay.
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