Justice Adenike Akinpelu of the Kwara State High Court, sitting in Ilorin on Tuesday, October 12, 2021 sentenced one Salami Yusuf Adetola, who claimed to be a United States of America Lottery Agent to a term of six months imprisonment for offences bordering on personation and cybercrime.
Adetola was sentenced alongside one AbdulKareem Abdulmojeed Olamilekan, a graphic designer from Ifelodun Local Government Area of Kwara State and one Nwabudike Emmanuel Lawrence from Ethiope-East Local Government Area of Delta State for similar offence.
The Ilorin Zonal Command of the Economic and Financial Crimes Commission, EFCC, on Tuesday, October 13, 2021 arraigned the trio on separate charges, to which they pleaded guilty.
Following the guilty plea by the defendants, R. A Alao, counsel to the EFCC, called witnesses who are operatives of the Commission and tendered evidence which included the devices used in perpetrating the crime and various fraudulent messages printed out of the defendants’ phones and laptops, to establish the alleged offences against them. After the review of the facts of the cases, Alao urged the court to convict and sentence the defendants as charged.
In her judgment, Justice Akinpelu held that the prosecution had proved its cases beyond reasonable doubt.
While Adetola was sentenced to six months imprisonment with N200,000 (Two Hundred Thousand Naira) as option of fine, Olamilekan was sentenced to one year imprisonment with N300,000 (Three Hundred Thousand Naira) as option of fine.
On the other hand, Lawrence bagged a prison term of six months on each of the two counts against him, which shall run concurrently with option of fine of N200,000 (Two Hundred Thousand Naira Only) on each count.
The judge also ordered the forfeiture of the various devices used as instrumentality of the crime by the convicts to the federal government as well as restitution to the victims of the crime.