Glory Ebomah
Justices Emeka Nwite and A. R. Mohammed of the Federal High Court sitting in Abuja, have convicted and sentenced five internet fraudsters to different jail terms.
The convicts: Adakole Williams Joseph, Amuta Michael Ochube, Achir David Teryima, Dahiru Umar Usman and Onah Victor Onah, were jailed on Tuesday and Wednesday, September 13 and 14, 2022 respectively. While Joseph, Ochube, Teryima and Usman were convicted by Justice Nwite, Onah was jailed by Justice Mohammed.
They were convicted, after pleading guilty to one-count separate charge bordering on criminal impersonation and Point of sale, POS, fraud, upon being arraigned by the Makurdi Zonal Command of the Economic and Financial Crimes Commission, EFCC.
Adakole Williams Joseph count charge reads: “That you Adakole Williams Joseph sometime in 2022 within the jurisdiction of this Honourable Court with intent to defraud advertised to the public on your Instagram account named Jay-Tech that I got my account recovered successfully through the help of JAY-TECH on Instagram and defrauded unsuspecting persons, a message which materially misrepresented facts and caused the recipients a cumulative loss of N2, 197, 970.82k (Two Million, One Hundred and Ninety Seven Thousand, Nine Hundred and Seventy Naira Eighty Two Kobo) and thereby committed an offence contrary to and punishable under Section 14(2) of the Cybercrime (Prohibition, Prevention Etc) Act, 2015”.
They all pleaded guilty to the charge, when it was read to them individually.
In view of their pleas, prosecution counsels: Ramiah Ikhanaede and M. Yusuf, prayed the court to convict and sentence them accordingly.
Delivering judgment, Justice Nwite sentenced Joseph to two years imprisonment, with an option of fine of N2,000, 000 (Two Million Naira only). Teryima was sentenced to one year imprisonment with an option of fine of N250,000 (Two Hundred and Fifty Thousand Naira), while Ochube and Usman were sentenced to one year imprisonment each, with an option of fine of N1,000,000 (One Million Naira).
Furthermore, Justice Mohammed sentenced Onah to one year imprisonment with an option of fine of N300,000 (Three Hundred Thousand Naira).
Also, the court ordered that the convicts restitute their victims and forfeit all items recovered from them to the Federal Government of Nigeria.
They started their journey to the Correctional Centre when they were arrested by operatives of the Makurdi Zonal Command of the EFCC for impersonating foreigners and defrauding their victims through false claims.
