A 24-year-old Seafarer, Aladekomo Ayodele Samuel, from Ado-Ekiti in Ado-Ekiti Local Government Area of Ekiti State is to spend time in Nigerian Correctional Centre alongside four other persons convicted for offences bordering on internet fraud also known as ‘yahoo-yahoo’.
The others are one Mustapha Bashir, a 24-year-old electrician from Ilorin West Local Government Area of Kwara State; Sulyman Mustapha, a barber from Okene Local Government Area of Kogi State; Adedayo Samuel, who also claims to be a barber and one Adeoye Quadri Olalekan, who claims to be an HND II Student of the Kwara State Polytechnic, Ilorin.
The convicts were prosecuted on separate charges by the Ilorin Zonal Command of the Economic and Financial Crimes Commission, EFCC before Justice Mahmud Abdulgafar, except Sulyman Mustapha whose trial came up before Justice Adebayo Yusuf of the Kwara State High Court, Ilorin.
The charge against Aladekomo reads:
“That you, Aladekomo Ayodele Samuel, sometime between January 2023 and May 2023, in Ilorin within the jurisdiction of this Honorable Court, did cheat by personation when you pretended to be one Kristina Lauren, a female resident of the United States of America with Gmail account kristenaddielauren01@gmail.com and Facebook account Kristina Lauren and in that guise induced one Steve Gamble, a male resident of the United States of America to send you gift cards worth the sum of $700 (Seven Hundred Dollars) and thereby committed an offence contrary to Section 321 of the Penal Code Law and Punishable under Section 324 of the Penal Code Law”
While details of the charge against Mustapha read:
“That you, Mustapha Bashir, sometime in March, 2020 at Ilorin, within the judicial division of the High Court, did attempt to cheat by personation when you pretended to be one Shanny Hollywood; vide Google mail account: Shannyholywood@gmail.com and in that guise communicated with one Jeral Henderson in inducing him to part with property, and thereby committed an offence contrary to section 95 read along with Section 321 of the Penal Code Law and Punishable under Section 324 of the same Penal Code”
On the other hand, count 3 against Adeoye reads:
“That you, Adeoye Quadri Olalekan, sometime between August 2022 and May 2023 at Ilorin, within the judicial division of the High Court, did knowingly had under your control, the gross of N1,634,293 (One Million, Six Hundred and Thirty Four Thousand, Two Hundred and Ninety Three Naira Only) deposited in your Guaranty Trust Bank account No. 0715088800, which is reasonably suspected to have been unlawfully obtained and thereby committed an offence contrary to and punishable under Section 319 (a) of the Penal Code ”
When arraigned, the defendants pleaded guilty to their respective charge. Consequently, the counsel that represented the EFCC in the cases – Andrew Akoja, Muinat Bello and Isabel Adeniran in separate prayers before the courts urged his lordships to take judicial notice of the ‘guilty plea’ by the defendants as well as the uncontroverted evidence adduced before the court to convict them as charged.
The Justices said that they were convinced that the prosecution had established the essential ingredients of the crime against the defendants to warrant their conviction, and thus pronounced them guilty.
Consequently, Justice Abdulgafar on Wednesday, July 12, 2023 sentenced Aladekomo to six months suspended imprisonment on count 1 and 2 and ordered the forfeiture of the convict’s iphone 11 promax, iphone 6s and the sum of $400 (Four Hundred United States Dollars).
Mustapha was also sentenced to six months suspended imprisonment at the Nigerian Correctional Centre and ordered that one Infinix hot phone which he used to commit the crime be forfeited to the Federal Government.
In the same vein, Justice Abdulgafar sentenced Adedayo to six months imprisonment at Mandala Correctional Centre with an option of N100, 000 (One Hundred Thousand Naira Only) and ordered that one iphone 11 which the convict used to perpetrate the crime and the sum of N810, 006.92 in his bank account be forfeited to the Federal Government.
Equally, the judge sentenced Adeoye to six months suspended imprisonment on count 1 and 2 with option of N150,000 (One Hundred and Fifty Thousand Naira Only) on each count, while he was sentenced to three months imprisonment on count 3 with option of N50,000 (Fifty Thousand Naira Only). The court also ordered that one iphone 14, iphone 6, MacBook and the sum of $300 (Three Hundred United States Dollars) recovered from the convict’s account be forfeited to the Federal Government.
On the other hand, Justice Yusuf sentenced Sulyman to six months imprisonment with option of fine of N50, 000 (Fifty Thousand Naira Only). The court also ordered that one iphone XR which he used to perpetrate the crime be forfeited to the Federal Government
