Man jailed for romance scam in Makurdi

Glory Ebomah

Justice Abdul Dogo of the Federal High Court sitting in Makurdi, Benue State on Monday, February 13, 2023, convicted and sentenced one Abah Stephen to two-year imprisonment for fraud.

Stephen was arraigned on one count charge by the Makurdi Zonal Command of the EFCC for fraudulent impersonation.

The charge read: “That you, Abah Stephen, sometime in 2022, at Makurdi, within the jurisdiction of this Honourable Court, by deceit pretended to be Johnscot, an American Military Doctor on a peacekeeping mission for the United Nations at Kabul, Afghanistan, by use of an email account – alexanderscot99@gmail.com  induced and defrauded one Jana Bilkara Czech Republic Citizen who delivered to you the total sum of Three Thousand Euros, equivalent of N1,500,000.00, into your United Bank for Africa (UBA), Account No. 2115293731, in the guise of being in a romantic relationship with her and thereby committed an offence contrary to Section 14(2) of the Cybercrime (Prohibition, Prevention, etc) Act, 2015 and punishable under the same Section of the Act “.

Upon arraignment, the defendant pleaded guilty to the charge.

In view of his plea, the prosecution counsel, George Chai-Yakua prayed to the court to convict and sentence the defendant accordingly. However, the defence counsel, C. C. Egbokwe pleaded with the court to temper justice with mercy as the defendant is a first-time offender who has become remorseful for his action.

Justice Dogo convicted and sentenced the defendant to two years imprisonment and a fine of Five Hundred Thousand Naira.

The judge also ordered that the mobile phone recovered from the convict be forfeited to the Federal Government of Nigeria.