Date: 2019-11-20

Two Kwara State High Courts sitting in Ilorin, on Tuesday, sentenced five persons to six months' imprisonment each for committing Internet fraud and other fraud-related offences.

The convicts are Olamide Ijisesan, Tolulope Ogundowole, Abdullahi Abubakar, Chilaka Dickson and Azeez Olayiwola.

The Economic and Financial Crimes Commission, Ilorin zonal office, had charged the convicts for Internet fraud and other fraud-related offences.

The accused persons were convicted and sentenced to six months' imprisonment for separate charges brought against them.

Four of the accused persons were tried and convicted by Justice Mahmood Abdulgafar, while the fifth accused person, Ogundowole, was convicted by Justice Sikiru Oyinloye.

The charge against one of the convicts read, "That you, Olamide Ijisesan, aka Javier Cheryl, sometime in April 2016 in Ilorin, Kwara State, within the jurisdiction of this honourable court, cheated by pretending to be one Javier Cheryl, a white Caucasian female with the Gmail account, , and fraudulently induced one Javier Hernandez to deliver the cumulative sum of $350 to you, thereby committing an offence contrary to and punishable under Section 325 of the Penal Code Law."

The convicts pleaded guilty to the separate charges levelled against them by the anti-graft body.

The prosecution, led by Mr Blessing Akinsola, told the court that the accused persons had approached the commission for plea bargain agreements and urged the judge to convict them according to the agreements.

The defence counsel confirmed the position of the prosecution.

In arriving at the judgement, the court said the evidence of the prosecution was not challenged or contradicted by the defendants.

"This court hereby convicts and sentences each of the accused persons to six months' imprisonment," Justice Abdulgafar said.

He also ordered that phones, laptops and money recovered from the convicts should be forfeited to the Federal Government.