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By Gloria Ikibah

Two Nigerian nationals have been extradited from Nigeria to the United States to face charges over alleged financially motivated sextortion of minors in separate cases involving the deaths of teenagers in Mississippi and North Carolina.

The US Department of Justice said Adebola Festus Adekunle, 26, from Lagos, and Mudasiru Afeez Olawale, 24, were extradited on August 27 after they were arrested in Nigeria in August 2023 as part of a wider FBI operation targeting sexual extortionists allegedly preying on minors in the United States.

US Attorney General Todd Blanche said the arrests were part of efforts to dismantle international criminal networks involved in child sexual exploitation.

“The defendants were arrested in Nigeria as part of a wider operation with the FBI to apprehend sexual extortionists targeting minors in the United States.

“The Department of Justice and this Administration have demonstrated an unwavering commitment to protecting America’s children from exploitation and sexual abuse. We have strengthened our international law enforcement partnerships to dismantle the foreign criminal networks behind financially-motivated sextortion and identify and prosecute the perpetrators of child sexual exploitation who are directly linked to dozens of American teen deaths by suicide,” Blanche said.

FBI Director Kash Patel said the two men had been returned to the US after spending three years overseas.

“Two Nigerian subjects arrested in Nigeria in 2023 – Adebola Festus Adekunle and Mudasiru Afeez Olawale – have now been returned to the United States to face justice after allegedly participating in financially-motivated sextortion of minors – one resulting in the death of a child.

“Adekunle is charged with the sexual exploitation of a minor resulting in death, the production of child sexual abuse material, coercion and enticement of a minor, and interstate threats with intent to extort – and Olawale is charged with offenses relating to sexual exploitation of minors, coercion and enticement of minors, distribution of child pornography, and more.

“They’ve been overseas for three years, but this FBI and our DOJ partners went and got them. Sextortion is a heinous crime targeting innocent people, often young children – and this FBI will stop at nothing to pursue every single individual who harms vulnerable Americans,” Patel said.

Adekunle appeared before a federal court in Oxford, Mississippi, following his extradition. He faces charges relating to the alleged sextortion of a Mississippi minor, whose death is linked to the case.

The charges against him include sexual exploitation of a minor resulting in death, coercion and enticement of a minor, and interstate threats with intent to extort. If convicted, he faces a possible life sentence, while the charge involving the death of a child carries a minimum sentence of 30 years in prison.

US Attorney for the Northern District of Mississippi, Scott Leary, said the investigation eventually led authorities to Nigeria.

“The evidence led agents to Nigeria. Undeterred, the FBI worked with DOJ’s Office of International Affairs for years, and eventually the defendant was extradited from Nigeria to face justice in the United States.

“We are thankful for the hard work of Nigeria’s Attorney General and Minister of Justice. Working together, state, federal and international agencies brought us here today,” Leary said.

Olawale, who appeared before a federal court in Greensboro, North Carolina, faces charges relating to the alleged sextortion of two minors, including a case involving the death of one victim.

US Attorney for the Middle District of North Carolina, Dan Bishop, said the authorities remained committed to pursuing those accused of sextortion regardless of how much time had passed.

“Today’s announcement makes clear that we will not rest in our pursuit of justice for victims of sextortion: Three years after the indictment, and almost five years since the conduct occurred, the defendant will finally appear in a U.S. court to face the charges against him.

“We are grateful to all the agents, attorneys, and others whose tenacity and steadfast pursuit of justice contributed to the defendant’s extradition,” Bishop said.

The extraditions were carried out with assistance from the US Justice Department’s Office of International Affairs, FBI Legal Attaché in Abuja and FBI agents from Jackson and Greensboro, who travelled to Nigeria and took the suspects into US custody.

The US authorities also acknowledged the assistance of Nigerian security agencies, particularly the Attorney-General of the Federation and Minister of Justice, the Federal Ministry of Justice’s International Criminal Justice Cooperation Department and the Economic and Financial Crimes Commission.

The Justice Department said the cases stemmed from Operation Artemis, an FBI operation targeting financially motivated sextortion networks operating from Nigeria.

Special Agent in Charge Robert A. Eikhoff of the FBI Jackson Field Office said the extradition demonstrated that international borders would not protect suspects from prosecution.

“Sextortion is a serious crime with devastating consequences. Its impact on victims and their families is profound and long-lasting.

“The extradition of Adekunle sends a clear and unmistakable message: crossing state lines does not erase criminal charges, and international borders do not shield individuals from accountability,” Eikhoff said.

The Justice Department stressed that all charges remain allegations and that both defendants are presumed innocent unless proven guilty beyond a reasonable doubt in court.