Court Jail Six for Internet Crimes in Kaduna
No fewer than six internet fraudsters have been convicted by Justices Darius Khobo and A.A Isiaka of the Kaduna State High Court and Hawau Buhari of the Federal High Court, Kaduna State.
They all bagged their imprisonment when they were arrested for internet-related offences.
The convicts included; Abubakar Shettima (a.k.a Dennis Hueber), Timileyin Akinsola (a.k.a James Smith), Favour Onoja (a.k.a Dean Leon), Naphtali Bako (a.k.a Benjah), Suleiman Ibrahim (a.k.a Rico_Mod2) and Festus Gabriel (a.k.a Sandra Will).
The six convicts were prosecuted by the Kaduna Zonal Command of the Economic and Financial Crimes Commission (EFCC), on separate one-count charges bordering on cheating and impersonation.
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They all pleaded guilty when the charges were read to them, prompting prosecution counsel, Kehinde Ogunalde, Musa Usman Gadaka and Kehinde Ogunlade to urge the courts to convict and sentence them accordingly.
Akinsola’s charge reads: “That you Timileyin Akinsola (a.k.a James Smith), male between January and May, 2024 in Kaduna within the jurisdiction of this Honourable Court, impersonated one James Smith, a United States of American citizen on Instagram (an online Social media application) and in such assumed character cheated one Larry Fletcher of the sum of One Hundred and Twenty-Five United States Dollars ($125USD) and thereby committed an offence contrary to Section 308 of the Kaduna State Penal Code Law, 2017and punishable under Section 309 of the same Law.”
The count against Bako reads: “That you Naphtali Bako (a.k.a Benjah), sometime in April 2024 in Kaduna within the jurisdiction of this Honourable Court, represented yourself as one Benjah (a musician from United States of America) on Facebook (a social media platform) and in such assumed Identity cheated one Alois Whitfield the total sum of N60,000.00 (Sixty Thousand Naira), only and thereby committed an offence contrary to Section 308 of the Kaduna State Penal Code Law, 2017 and punishable under Section 309 of the same law.”
Delivering the judgement, Justice Khobo convicted and sentenced Shettima to three years imprisonment or a fine of N400,000.00 (Four Hundred Thousand Naira), and sentenced Timileyin to five years imprisonment or a fine of N450,000.00 (Four Hundred Thousand and Fifty Thousand Naira).
Also, Onoja was convicted and sentenced Onoja to five years imprisonment or a fine of N400,000.00 (Four Hundred Thousand Naira), while the Justice Isiaka handed a seven years imprisonment to Bako or pay a fine of N400,000.00 (Four Hundred Thousand Naira).
Ibrahim and Gabriel were convicted and sentenced by Justice Buhari to 14 and four years imprisonment respectively. Ibrahim is to pay a fine of N 300,000.00 (Three Hundred Thousand Naira), while Gabriel was given N500,000.00 (Five Hundred Thousand Naira) option of fine.
The convicts in addition forfeited their communication gadgets being the tools of their crimes to the Federal government.
Hafsoh Isiaq is a graduate of Linguistics. An avid writer committed to creative, high-quality research and news reportage. She has considerable experience in writing and reporting across a variety of platforms including print and online.
