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Court jails 23 internet fraudsters in Edo
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A total of 23 internet fraudsters have been convicted and sentenced to varying jail terms by the Edo State High Court sitting in Benin City between April 11 and 17, 2025.
This was disclosed in a statement posted on the official X handle of the Economic and Financial Crimes Commission on Saturday.
“Justices W.I. Aziegbemhin and A.N. Erhabor of Edo State High Court sitting in Benin City between April 11 and 17 convicted and sentenced 23 internet fraudsters to various jail terms,” the statement partly read.
The convicted individuals are: Uzorchukwu Peace Udoka, Erubasa Oghenetega, David Ogwunu, Jude Okolie, Lucky Ehizojie, Chineye Isioma Christian, Obadiunor Josoph Ikechukwu, Ugochukwu Adingwu, Ifeanyi Okechukwu, Patrick Chinedu Chukwujekwe, Ugboh Chibuzor, Monday Shedrack, Udochukwu Onuka, Uzodion Luke, and Ehighola Emmanuel Akhere.
Others include: Godstime Osunde Oskpolor, Promise Onyugboh, Onuka Patrick, Chinonso Peter Iwuchukwu, Ajayi Aisosa, Aiwansoba Prince, Goddey Jeremiah, and Ojimah John Oseni.
The statement continued, “They were prosecuted on one count, separate charges bordering on obtaining by false pretence, retention of proceeds of crime and possession of fraudulent documents by the Benin Zonal Directorate of the Commission.”
One of the charges against the convicts read: “The charge against Chinonso Peter Iwuchukwu reads: ‘That you Chinonso Peter Iwuchukwu (m) on or about the 12th of April, 2025 within the jurisdiction of this Honourable Court did have in your possession, documents which you knew or ought to have known contained false pretence, thereby committed an offence contrary to Section 6 and 8 (b) of the Advance Fee Fraud and other Fraud Related Offences Act 2006 and punishable under Section 1(3) of the same Act.’”
All 23 defendants pleaded guilty to the charges when they were read to them. “All the defendants pleaded ‘guilty’ to their charges when they were read to them, prompting the prosecution counsel, F.A. Jirbo, I.M. Elodi, K.Y. Bello, to pray the court to convict and sentence them accordingly while counsel to the defendants pleaded with the court to temper justice with mercy, stating that they have become remorseful for their actions,” the statement continued.
Justice A.N. Erhabor sentenced Chinonso Peter Iwuchukwu, Jude Okolie, Obadiunor Joseph Ikechukwu, Ugochukwu Adingwu, Ifeanyi Okechukwu, Patrick Chinedu Chukwujekwe, Ugboh Chibuzor, Monday Shedrack, Udochukwu Onuka, Ehighola Emmanuel Akhere, Godstime Osunde Oskpolor, Promise Onyugboh, Onuka Patrick, Aiwansoba Prince, Goddey Jeremiah, and Ojimah John Oseni to two years imprisonment each, with an option of N200,000 fine.
Chineye Isioma Christian and Uzodion Luke received three years imprisonment each or a fine of N200,000.
Justice W.I. Aziegbemhin convicted Uzorchukwu Peace Udoka, Erubasa Oghenetega, and Ajayi Aisosa, sentencing them to two years in prison or a N200,000 fine each. David Ogwunu and Lucky Ehizojie received stiffer penalties, each being sentenced to three years imprisonment or a fine of N500,000.
“In addition to their sentences, all the convicts forfeited their phones, computers and money found in their respective bank accounts to the Federal Government of Nigeria, being proceeds of crime. They also undertook in writing to be of good behaviour henceforth,” the statement added.
The EFCC revealed that the convicts were arrested in a sting operation by operatives of its Benin Zonal Directorate following actionable intelligence linking them to online fraudulent activities.
“The convicts’ journey to the Correctional Centre began with their arrest in a sting operation by operatives of the Benin Zonal Directorate of the EFCC following intelligence that linked them to fraudulent internet activities,” the commission concluded.
Two women have been arrested in Jalingo, Taraba State, after they were caught attempting to take three young girls out of the state to Adamawa.
According to reports, the suspects, both single and reportedly from the South-East, were arrested at a filling station while travelling in a commercial vehicle with the girls, aged between five and six.
The incident reportedly began when the women, who had rented a room in the same compound where the girls lived about two weeks earlier,
reportedly deceived their mothers into allowing the children to accompany them to the market.
Instead, the women allegedly took the girls to a motor park in Jalingo, where they hired a vehicle to transport them to Adamawa State.
The vehicle driver reportedly became suspicious after noticing that the girls did not resemble the women. He alerted members of his union, who contacted the police, leading to the suspects’ arrest.
At the police station, the women reportedly admitted taking the girls from their compound after deceiving their mothers. The girls, identified as Ummul Shuaibu, Ummul Baba Gasal and Amina Abubakar, were later reunited with their families at the Taraba State Police Command headquarters.
Their fathers were initially invited to identify them, while their mothers were subsequently asked to confirm their identities before their release.
Abubakar Kwalli, father of one of the girls, said the children became emotional when they saw their mothers, with each girl rushing to her mother in tears.
The Taraba State Police Public Relations Officer, ASP Victor Mshelizah, confirmed the arrest and said investigation into the incident was ongoing, adding that further details would be released after the investigation.
The Oyo State Police Command has smashed a suspected truck-hijacking syndicate after an intelligence-led operation resulted in the arrest of four suspects and the recovery of a stolen SINO HOWO truck.
The Command said the suspects specialised in hijacking and diverting trucks from drivers in Oyo and neighbouring states before allegedly moving the stolen vehicles to criminal receivers in Kwara State.
The breakthrough followed a tip-off that the syndicate planned to strike on August 24, 2026. Acting on the information, Commissioner of Police, CP Abimbola Ayodeji Olugbenga, deployed operatives of the Violent Crime Response Unit (VCRU) to conduct targeted stop-and-search operations along the Lagos-Ibadan Expressway.
The operation paid off when officers intercepted a white SINO HOWO truck and arrested two suspects—Ojedokun Olakunle Isaac, the truck driver’s motor boy, and Ajuwon Ismail.
According to the police, the truck had already been stripped of its rear body/bucket and was being driven towards the Ogbomoso/Ilorin axis for delivery and sale.
Police said Ojedokun subsequently confessed to masterminding the hijacking of the truck from his employer. Information obtained from his interrogation allegedly led detectives to two more suspects, Adekunle Sunday and Rasheed Music.
Investigators said Sunday was the syndicate’s regular driver for stolen trucks, while Music allegedly specialised in disabling and removing trackers and other electronic devices that could help owners or security agencies locate the vehicles.
The Command said the truck was hijacked at about 11 p.m. on August 24 before the suspects attempted to move it towards the Ogbomoso/Ilorin corridor.
The police intervention, however, disrupted the plan and secured the recovery of the vehicle.
The search continues for the truck’s detached rear body and other members of the alleged syndicate who remain at large.
CP Olugbenga praised members of the public whose information helped police foil the operation, stressing that intelligence-led policing would remain central to the Command’s fight against organised crime in Oyo State.
The Sokoto State Hisbah Board has denied claims that it imposed restrictions on Christian worship and practices in the state.
According to the board, it has no legal authority to regulate how Christians conduct their religious activities.
The board’s commandant, Dr Usman Abdullahi Jatau, made this known in a statement issued on Saturday in Sokoto.
The clarification followed social media claims alleging that the board was interfering with Christian worship in Sokoto.
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