Justice Muhammed Sani of the Federal High Court in Ilorin, Kwara State, convicted and sentenced a Lokoja-born musician, Samuel Onojah, and two others to 20 years in prison for cybercrime-related offences.
Onojah was convicted alongside Victor Kadiyamo and Jejelowo Segun on Monday, September 12, 2022, after pleading guilty to separate counts of internet fraud.
The Economic and Financial Crimes Commission’s Ilorin Zonal Command charged them in court.
The charge against Samuel read in part, “That you, Samuel Onojah, sometime in May 2022, at Lokoja, Kogi State, within the jurisdiction of the Federal High Court, fraudulently impersonated one Richard Philips via your Instagram account linked to your gmail account: richardphilips6211@gmail.com with intent to obtain money from one Erika which you did obtain the sum of 8 pounds worth gift cards and thereby committed an offence contrary to Section 22 (2) (ii) of Cybercrime (Prohibition Prevention) Act, 2015, and punishable under Section 22(2)(b)(iv) of the same act.”
Following their pleas, the counsel to the EFCC, Andrew Akoja reviewed the facts of the cases and prayed the judge to convict and sentence them accordingly.
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In his judgment, Justice Sani convicted and sentenced Onojah to three years imprisonment on counts one and two, with an option of N100,000 on each count.
Kadiyamo was also convicted and sentenced to three years imprisonment on counts one, two and three, with options of fine of N100,000 on counts one and two, while count three carried an option of fine of N54,194,680.
In the same vein, Segun was convicted and sentenced to five years imprisonment with an option of fine of N500,000.
