By Nkechi Eze
Five convicted internet fraudsters have been sentenced to varying jail terms by three separate courts sitting in Ilorin, the Kwara State capital. The convictions were secured by the Ilorin Zonal Directorate of the Economic and Financial Crimes Commission (EFCC), following their arraignment on separate cybercrime charges.
In an official statement released by the EFCC spokesperson, Dele Oyewale, the convicts Ayinla Abiodun Abdulmajid, Yusuf Abdulazeez Onimisi, Muhammed Zayad Eneye, Abdulbasit Abdulmumeen, and Victor Onucheyo Anibe, were prosecuted before Justices Abimbola Awogboro of the Federal High Court, and Justices Sulaiman Akanbi and Haleema Saleeman of the Kwara State High Court.
According to the commission, Ayinla Abiodun Abdulmajid, who operated under the alias “Michael Cavezza,” was charged for impersonating one Michael Cavezza via Google Hangouts in a bid to defraud a victim, Kirsty Reid, of the sum of $1,003. He pleaded guilty to the charge and was sentenced by Justice Awogboro to nine months imprisonment without an option of fine. The court further ordered the forfeiture of $702, being the proceeds of the crime, alongside an iPhone 14 Pro Max, a Redmi phone, and an HP laptop to the Federal Government.
Yusuf Abdulazeez Onimisi also pleaded guilty and was convicted by the same court. Justice Awogboro sentenced him to three months imprisonment without an option of fine. He was ordered to forfeit $300 and a Samsung S31 phone to the Federal Government.
In a related judgment, Justice Awogboro sentenced Muhammed Zayad Eneye to 400 hours of community service without an option of fine. His HP laptop, used in perpetrating the crime, was ordered forfeited to the government.
At the Kwara State High Court, Justice Sulaiman Akanbi sentenced Abdulbasit Abdulmumeen to two years imprisonment with an option of N400,000 fine. In addition to the prison sentence, he was ordered to sweep the premises of the Kwara State High Court for two months under the supervision of a Nigerian Correctional Service Probation Officer. The court also ordered the forfeiture of $145 and an iPhone 11, which were proceeds of his criminal activity.
Justice Haleema Saleeman, in a separate ruling, convicted Victor Onucheyo Anibe and sentenced him to two years imprisonment with an option of N600,000 fine. The court further ordered the forfeiture of N4 million already restituted by the convict, along with an iPhone 16 Pro Max and a Samsung phone to the Federal Government.
All five convicts were arrested by the EFCC for cyber-related offences and prosecuted in accordance with the Cybercrime (Prohibition, Prevention, etc.) Act of 2015. They pleaded guilty upon arraignment, leading the EFCC prosecutors Innocent Mbachie, Sesan Ola, and Mustapha Kaigama, to review the facts of the cases and tender evidence, including their extra-judicial statements and items recovered during arrest.
