- Three Internet Fraudsters Get 5-Year Jail Term in Kaduna
- The trio pleaded guilty to charges of impersonation and obtaining money under false pretences
- Assets Forfeited
A Kaduna State High Court has sentenced three men to five years in prison each for their involvement in separate online fraud cases.
Eko Hot Blog reports that the presiding judge, A. Isiaka, delivered the judgment after the trio ; Aliyu Hassan, Samuel Olamide, and Solomon Joseph Christian pleaded guilty to charges of impersonation and obtaining money under false pretences.
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The case was brought before the court by the Economic and Financial Crimes Commission (EFCC), which arrested the suspects in different parts of Kaduna, including Agwa and Kudende, following intelligence reports linking them to online scams.
During the trial, the court heard how the three men used social media platforms to deceive unsuspecting victims. Each of them faced a one-count charge tied to their individual offences.
Aliyu Hassan was found to have impersonated a foreign national on Facebook to defraud a victim of ₦90,000. Samuel Olamide posed as an American on TikTok to scam his victim, while Solomon Joseph Christian used Facebook to carry out a separate fraud, collecting $150.
All three defendants admitted to the charges when they were read in court. Following their guilty pleas, EFCC prosecutor M.U. Gadaka urged the court to convict and sentence them accordingly.
Justice Isiaka subsequently sentenced each of them to five years imprisonment, with an option of a ₦300,000 fine.
The court also ordered that all items and money linked to the crimes be forfeited to the Federal Government. Among the forfeited items were mobile phones used in carrying out the fraud, as well as cash proceeds recovered from the convicts.
The ruling underscores ongoing efforts by the EFCC to clamp down on cybercrime and send a strong message against online fraud in Nigeria.
