‘Afghan Soldier,’ Others Jailed for Cyber-fraud in Ilorin
Justice Mahmoud Abdulgafar of the Kwara State High Court sitting in Ilorin on Monday, November 8, 2021 convicted a 20-year-old Samuel Anthony, who posed as a military officer serving in Afghanistan, for personation and cybercrime.
The judge also convicted one Yinus Mustapha Olamilekan from Oshodi-Isolo Local Government Area of Lagos State for impersonating an official of Facebook and one Godwin Adejare Ibukunoluwa, who claimed to be a ‘Data Entry Officer’ with a Non-Governmental Organisation, NGO.
The trio were prosecuted on separate charges by the Ilorin Zonal Command of the Economic and Financial Crimes Commission, EFCC.
Aliyu Adebayo prosecuted for the EFCC in the case of Anthony and Ibukunoluwa, while R. E Alao represented the Commission in the case involving Mustapha.
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The defendants pleaded guilty to the charge preferred against them.
Upon the pleas by the defendants, counsel to the EFCC called witnesses through whom they tendered several fraudulent documents printed from their devices, which were admitted in evidence. They also urged the court to rely on the admittance of guilt by the defendants to convict them as charged.
Justice Abdulgafar sentenced Anthony to a suspended term of six months imprisonment at Mandala Correctional Centre. The court also ordered the convict (Anthony) to forfeit the sum of $175 (One Hundred and Seventy-Five Dollars), which he raised as restitution for the unlawful activities as well as HP laptop and iPhone used to perpetrate the crime to the Federal Government.
In the same vein, the court sentenced Mustapha to a term of one year imprisonment with option of fine of N150,000 (One Hundred and Fifty Thousand Naira Only). The court also forfeited the convict’s iphone11 promax which he used to perpetrate the crime to the Federal Government.
Justice Abdulgafar also sentenced ibukunoluwa to six months imprisonment on each of the two counts preferred against him, which shall be suspended. The judge ordered the convict to forfeit his iPhone 6, iPhone 11 promax, Nokia phone and Techno Spark 5, which were used as instrumentalities of the crime to the Federal Government.
Wilson Uwujaren
Head, Media & Publicity
9 November, 2021
