Two OAU Students, Others Jailed For Internet Fraud

The Ibadan Zonal Command of the Economic and Financial Crimes Commission, EFCC, said it has secured the conviction and sentencing of two undergraduates of Obafemi Awolowo University, OAU, and four others to various jail terms for their involvement in internet fraud.

EFCC spokesperson, Dele Oyewale, disclosed this in a statement on Monday.

Osun Defender reports the EFCC had in raided off-campus hostels in the midnight of November 1, 2023, arresting over 70 students of the University.

The raid was carried out on the Fine Touch and Superb hostels in Oduduwa Estate, Ile-Ife, where the EFCC officials broke into rooms, and arrested the students.

He said the undergraduates, Gbolahan Khalid Adesina and Perekebena Olombeni Micah, were docked separately before Justice Nathaniel Ayo-Emmanuel of the Federal High Court, Osogbo, on one count, while others were arraigned before Justices O.A. Adetujoye and S.O. Adeyemi of the Oyo State High Court, sitting in Ibadan, also on a separate charge.

They were first arraigned on November 08, 2023.

The other four convicts, according to Oyewale, include Sholagbade Taofeek Olanrewaju, Qudus Olohunnoyin Baba, Akinpelu Quadri Opeyemi and John Oluwafimihan Adeyemo.

The convicts impersonated foreigners and defrauded their victims through false identities. They were found guilty and sentenced to various jail terms.

Justice Ayo-Emmanuel convicted and sentenced Adesina and Micah to one-year imprisonment each without the option of a fine, while Olanrewaju, Atanda, Opeyemi and Adeyemo bagged two weeks of community service each.

The convicts were ordered to restitute their various victims and forfeit all items recovered from them to the Federal Government of Nigeria.

He said the convicts bagged their imprisonment when they were arrested by operatives of the EFCC for internet-related offences.