Harvest of Convictions: Five Internet Fraudsters Jailed in Lagos

It was a day of reckoning for Lagos based internet fraudsters on Friday, June 28, 2019, as four different judges rained convictions of varying sentences to five of them in various jurisdictions of the Lagos High Courts.

Among the three persons Justice Oluwatoyin Taiwo of the Special Offences Court sitting in Ikeja, convicted and sentenced separately for internet related offences was Abdulazeez Ismaila, who bagged six months imprisonment for being in possession of fraudulent documents. Onyebuchi Felix was sentenced to one year imprisonment for being in possession of fraudulent documents and Abdulazeez Ismaila was also convicted and sentenced to six months imprisonment by the same judge for possession of fraudulent documents.

Justice Mojisola Dada of the Special Offences Court sitting in Ikeja, Lagos on the same day also convicted and sentenced one Emmanuel Olasupo to one year imprisonment for being in possession of fraudulent documents.

In the same vein, Justice Dada convicted and sentenced two other internet fraudsters: Amuda Tayo Segun and Aina Afeez Omodolapo to one year imprisonment each for being in possession of fraudulent documents

The charge against Onyebuchi reads: "That you, Onyebuchi Felix, sometime in 2019 in Lagos, within the jurisdiction of this Honourable Court, had in your possession documents containing false pretence, which you knew that the said documents contained false pretence."

The charge against Ismaila is "That you, Abdulazeez Ismaila, sometime in 2019 in Lagos within the jurisdiction of this Honourable Court, had in your possession documents containing false pretence, which you knew that the said documents contained false pretence."

For Olasupo, the charge reads: "That you, Emmanuel Olasupo, sometime in May, 2019 in Lagos within the jurisdiction of this Honourable Court, with intent to defraud had in your possession documents containing false pretence, which you knew that the said documents contained false pretence."

The charge against the duo of Segun and Omodolapo reads: "That you, Amudah Tayo Segun and Aina Afeez Omodolapo, sometime in 2019 in Lagos, within the jurisdiction of this Honourable Court, had in your possession documents containing false pretence, which you knew that the said documents contained false pretence."

For Segun and Omodolapo, Justice Dada gave an "option of fine" of N250, 000 (Two Hundred and Fifty Thousand Naira) each to the convicts.

Ismaila was not too lucky as he was convicted and sentenced the to six months imprisonment without an option of fine. The judge also ordered that all items recovered from the convict be forfeited to Federal Government of Nigeria.

Justice Taiwo convicted and sentenced Felix to nine months imprisonment without an option of fine. The judge also ordered the forfeiture of all recovered items from the convict to Federal Government of Nigeria.

The verdict on Olasupo by Justice Dada was one year imprisonment. The Judge also ordered that the two laptops and one iPhone recovered from the convict be forfeited to the Federal Government of Nigeria.