Justice Abimbola Awogboro of the Federal High Court sitting in Ilorin has sentenced a 23-year-old serial internet fraudster, Adebisi Emmanuel Olalekan, to 24 months imprisonment without the option of fine.

Olalekan, a native of Omuo-Ekiti in Ekiti East Local Government Area of Ekiti State, was convicted on Wednesday, May 21, 2025 after he was found guilty of the two-count charge of offences bordering on cybercrime, including cheating and impersonation preferred against him by the Ilorin Zonal directorate of the Economic and Financial Crimes Commission, EFCC.

In addition to the prison sentence, the court ordered the forfeiture of N124,402,322 (One Hundred and Twenty-Four Million, Four Hundred and Two Thousand, Three Hundred and Twenty-Two Naira) found in Olalekan’s Wema Bank account, a white Mercedes Benz ML350 valued at N30 million, and an iPhone 14 Pro Max used in perpetrating the crimes.

The convict was accused of impersonating many foreign nationals including Joshua Compbell Novak, through fake Gmail and TextPlus accounts between August and December 2024. Through these fraudulent identities, he defrauded victims, including Allisa Motazedi and Brittany Boggess, of $100,000 and $1,000, respectively.

One of the charges reads:

“That you, Adebisi Emmanuel Olalekan, between August 2024 and December 2024 within the jurisdiction of this Honourable Court, fraudulently impersonated one Joshua Compbell Novak via your Gmail account and TextPlus number with the intent to obtain a total sum of $100,000 from Allisa Motazedi, which you did obtain, thereby committing an offence contrary to Section 22(2)(ii) of the Cybercrime (Prohibition, Prevention) Act, 2015 and punishable under Section 22(2)(b)(IV) of the same Act.”

Olalekan pleaded guilty to both counts.

Upon his plea, counsel to the EFCC, Sesan Ola, led an investigating officer, Paul Aniebonam, in evidence narrating how the convict created fake online profiles to deceive and defraud unsuspecting foreign victims.

Aniebonam confirmed to the court that proceeds of the fraudulent activities were used to acquire the luxury vehicle in October 2024, while over N124 million in his bank account was traced to similar illicit transactions.

He also tendered key exhibits including the bank statement, car documents, mobile device, and four extra-judicial statements made by the defendant.

Justice Awogboro sentenced Olalekan to 12 months imprisonment on each count, to run consecutively. The court also granted the final forfeiture of all traced assets to the Federal Government of Nigeria.

The case originated from a report by the Nigerian Security and Civil Defence Corps (NSCDC), which alerted the EFCC to Olalekan’s cybercriminal activities.

Suspected gunmen have killed an unspecified number of people in a fresh wave of attacks on Guma and Gwer West Local Government Areas of Benue State, with the immediate past PDP Ward Chairman, James Akase, among those reportedly murdered.

Local sources confirmed that the attacks occurred on Monday, May 19, 2025, targeting several rural communities.

Villages hit include Tse Ikpe Ago, located along the Yogbo-Gyungu Aze road in Mbayer/Yandev Council Ward, and Tse Kologa in Mbagune, Nyiev Council Ward.

One local, who spoke to journalists in Makurdi on condition of anonymity, described the incidents as coordinated assaults on unarmed farming communities.

“In Gwer West, the Fulani militias ambushed and brutally murdered Hon. James Akase of Tse-Defam, Mba’akov Vengav, Avihijime Council Ward,” the source said.

Akase, who had previously been displaced by earlier attacks, was said to have returned to his community in search of food when he was killed.

Confirming the killing, Gwer West Local Government Chairman, Victor Ormin, told journalists that Akase was attacked on his farm.

“He went to get some food from his farm and was unfortunately killed. Another man was also kidnapped yesterday, but his family paid a ransom, and he was released later in the night,” Ormin said.

Efforts to reach Guma LGA Chairman, Maurice Orwough, were unsuccessful, as calls to his mobile phone went unanswered.

Similarly, the Benue State Police Command spokesperson, Catherine Anene, could not be reached for confirmation, as her phone rang out repeatedly without response.

The renewed attacks mark another grim chapter in the ongoing security crisis in Benue, where armed herders and bandits have continued to terrorise farming communities, displacing thousands and claiming scores of lives.

The Economic and Financial Crimes Commission (EFCC), Kano Zonal Directorate, has arraigned Abubakar Iliyasu Saminu before Justice Nasiru Saminu of the Kano State High Court on a one-count charge bordering on obtaining the sum of N31,250,000 (Thirty-One Million, Two Hundred and Fifty Thousand Naira) by false pretence.

The defendant allegedly obtained the sum N31, 250,000 (Thirty-One Million, Two Hundred and Fifty Thousand Naira) from one Muhuyi Adamu through his Zenith Bank account and cash transactions under the guise that he is the sole owner of 91 plots of land located at Panshekara NEPA in Kumbotso Local Government Area, which he purportedly sold to Muhuyi Adamu, who subsequently sold same to one Nuruddeen Suleiman Ishaq.

However, when Nuruddeen started developing the property, the actual owner of the plots showed up with the original title documents of the land. Investigation subsequently revealed that the defendant used forged documents to sell the property to the petitioner, Muhuyi Adamu.

The charge reads: “That you Abubakar Iliyasu Saminu between August 2023 and February 2024 at Kano, within the jurisdiction of this Honorable Court and with intent to defraud, obtained the sum of 31,250,000 from Muhuyi Adamu through your bank account with Zenith bank and cash under the false pretense that you are the owner of 31 plots of land at Panshekara Nepa in Kumbotso Local Government which was subsequently sold to Nuraddeen Sulaiman Ishaq, a pretence you knew to be false and thereby committed an offence contrary to Section 1(1) of the advance Fee Fraud and Other Fraud Related Offenses Act 2006 and punishable under Section 1(3) of the same Act’’.

When the charge was read to him, the defendant pleaded not guilty. The development prompted the prosecuting EFCC lawyer, Douglas I. Gift, to seek for a trial date and urged the court to remand the defendant pending trial.

But the defence lawyer, Nasir Abdulrahaman, applied for bail on behalf of the defendant, which was granted.

Justice Saminu admitted the defendant to bail in the sum of N25,000,000 (Twenty-Five Million Naira) with two sureties, saying that one of the sureties must have a landed property within Kano Metropolis with a valid Certificate of Occupancy.

The judge added that the certificate must be deposited with the court, saying that the surety must submit a written undertaking that, should the defendant abscond, the property will be forfeited and sold to satisfy the bail bond.

The case was later adjourned to June 25, 2025 for commencement of trial.