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Court remands 113 foreigners over alleged cybercrime

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Justice Ekerete Akpan of the Federal High Court in Abuja has remanded 113 foreign nationals at Kuje and Suleja correctional facilities.

The foreigners were arraigned before the court on Friday on the allegations of their involvement in high-level cybercrime and hacking activities said to be threatening Nigeria’s national security.

The accused persons comprising 87 men and 26 women from China, Vietnam, Thailand, Indonesia, Brazil, Philippines, Myanmar and Malaysia, as well as 17 Nigerian collaborators were facing six counts bordering on cybercrime, money laundering and unlawful residency in Nigeria.

Justice Akpan declared that the male defendants be remanded at Kuje prison while the females should be taken to Suleja prison.

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The suspects were arrested on November 3, 2024, at Plot 1906, Cadestral Zone 807, Katampe District of Abuja. They were allegedly using computers and other sophisticated devices to facilitate criminal activities.

In the charge marked FHC/ABJ/CR/599/2024, the suspects were alleged to have accessed a computer network and input, altered, and deleted suppressed data, resulting in inauthentic data, with the intention that such inauthentic data would be considered or acted upon as if they were authentic or genuine.

They were also alleged to have removed “from Nigeria proceeds generated from operating fraudulent and unregistered gambling platforms.”

According to the charge sheet, the platforms are 9f.com, c2.top, and 8pg.top.

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The accused persons were also charged with entering “the territory of the Federal Republic of Nigeria with a business permit of 30 days duration and failed, or neglected to leave the Nigerian territory at the expiration of the said permit and remained in Nigeria without a valid resident permit or appropriate valid visa.”

At the resumption of proceedings on Friday, the arraignment of the suspects was also stalled because the defendants’ names were misrepresented on the charge sheet.

Counsel to some of the defendants, James Onoja (SAN) told the court that there was a need to have interpreters to interpret for those who do not understand English.

Onoja asked the court to adjourn the scheduled arraignment following an observation that there were discrepancies in the names of the defendants, arguing that some of the names given to the defendants were not their proper names.

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The prosecution counsel, A. A. Egwu, who did not oppose the adjournment request, stated that the police lacked the facility to continue to keep the defendants, stating that he had earlier filed an ex-parte motion for the accused persons to be remanded in a correctional centre.

Egwu said most of the defendants were arrested without their papers, urging the court to remand them in a correctional centre pending their arraignment.

Following the submission of the counsel, the court ruled that the defendants should produce their travelling documents for their proper names and spellings to be gotten.

Meanwhile, counsel to the Brazilian accused persons, Eric Oba, asked the court to separate his clients from other defendants.

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Oba appealed to the court to conduct separate trials for them, just as he prayed the court to allow his clients to stay back at the police facility.

He said the Brazilians were afraid that they could be harmed by the other defendants because they made extra-judicial statements to the police that others were not happy about.

Rejecting Oba’s appeal, Justice Akpan directed him to file a formal application for the separation of the trial of his clients.

He adjourned the case to Friday, November 29, for arraignment.

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Metro

Kogi monarch narrates how he jumped over his fence when Hoodlums raided his palace

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The Etsu Lokoja, HRH Emmanuel Akamisoko Dauda-Shelika, Nyamkpa IV on Monday narrated how he jumped the fence to save his life when some suspected hoodlums attacked his palace and burnt his vehicle and property within the premises.

The palace which was located on plot 306, New Layout, Lokoja, was attacked by hoodlums at about 1:00am on Saturday, while the monarch narrowly escaped by scaling the fence.

PUNCH Metro gathered that the Nupe natives of Lokoja Development Union were planning to host the second edition of their end-of-the-year event, tagged: “Lokoja ‘24 Nupe Cultural Fiesta”, on Saturday, before the incident occurred.

The event was however aborted due to the unfortunate attack around 1:00 am, when many Nupe natives from neighbouring states had started arriving on the eve of the event.

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Narrating his ordeal to our correspondent who visited the scene on Monday, the Etsu Lokoja, said: “It was around 1 am at night that I heard a big bang on my door and I woke up to check through the window, wondering what could have happened.

“Then, I suddenly saw wildfire coming out of my car as it had been set ablaze by attackers.

“I knew it was an attack on the palace, and could not come out because of fear of being attacked. So, I managed to come out through the back door and scaled the fence to save my life.

“Thereafter, I came out to the road and realised that all my neighbours in the community were on the ground trying hard to quench the fire. Unfortunately, the car was burnt as well as other property inside it.”

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He explained that members of the planning committee for the event had a meeting till around 11:30 pm on Friday before departing to their various homes, lamenting that it was unfortunate that the cultural fiesta was aborted due to the ugly incident.

Dauda-Shelika appealed to the government and security agencies to investigate the cause of the attack and bring perpetrators and their sponsors to justice.

He, however, appealed to the Nupe natives in Lokoja to avoid any form of reprisal and continue to remain peaceful, law-abiding and allow government and security agencies to conduct a thorough investigation on the attack.

“We are appealing to His Excellency, Alhaji Ahmed Usman Ododo, and security agencies to please use their good offices to investigate this unfortunate incident, and bring to justice whoever is concerned whether directly or indirectly.

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“We also want government to kindly visit our issues by recognizing and grading the stool of Etsu Lokoja which had been in existence before colonisation.

“By officially recognising and grading Etsu Lokoja stool, we know everything will be laid to rest because that is the power of the government.”

When our correspondent visited the palace on Monday, a police officer on the ground declined to make comments as he claimed not to have not been authorised to speak on the matter.

Efforts to get the state police command to speak proved abortive as the Public Relations Officer, SP William Aya, did not take repeated calls to his mobile number. He also did not respond to a text message sent to him.

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Spirited efforts to get the Security Adviser to the state governor to speak on the development failed as he did not take repeated calls to his mobile phone number. He did not respond to a text message sent to him as of the time of filling this report.

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Metro

Two Die, Four injured In Edo Road Accident

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Two persons were yesterday confirmed dead in an accident that happened in the Ikhinero community on the Benin-Agbor road in Edo State.

It was gathered that four other passengers in the affected vehicles also sustained various degrees of injuries

The Edo State Sector Commander of the Federal Road Safety Corp (FRSC), Cyril Mathew, who confirmed the report said three vehicles were involved in the accident.

The Sector Commander who attributed the accident to overspeeding, cautioned motorists against excessive speed.

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“The accident happened around 6:10 pm along the Benin-Agbor road by Guinness deport due to overspeed”.

He said six persons including two adult males and four adult females were involved in the accident, adding that two were killed while four others were injured.

He said the injured were rushed to the hospital for treatment, while the deceased were deposited at the morgue.

He however , charged motorists to obey traffic rules and regulations, avoid night journeys and being drunk, while driving and as well fasten their seat belt to reach their destinations safely during the yuletide.

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Appeal Court Affirms 12-Year Jail Term for Businessman Over $1.4 Million Fraud

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The Court of Appeal in Lagos has upheld the conviction and 12-year prison sentence of Kolawole Adedayo Erinle, a businessman found guilty of defrauding a foreign company of $1.4 million.

The judgment, delivered on Thursday, 19 December 2024, by a three-man panel of the Court of Appeal, affirmed the sentencing of Erinle, alongside his company, Rinde-Remdex Nigeria Limited, on charges of conspiracy, retention of proceeds of criminal conduct, and obtaining money under false pretence.

Erinle had been initially arraigned before Justice Oluwatoyin Taiwo of the Special Offences Court in Ikeja on 11 March 2022.

However, following Justice Taiwo’s retirement, the case was reassigned to Justice Oshodi.

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On 28 October 2022, Erinle was re-arraigned on the three-count charge, which included the false representation of himself and his accomplice, Edward Dada (still at large), as agents of J.E. Dunn, a construction company based in the United States.

They created a fraudulent domain name, jedunn.org, to deceive their victims into transferring $1,410,000.

The Economic and Financial Crimes Commission (EFCC) had accused Erinle of perpetrating the crime in 2019 in Lagos, with the intent to exploit the fraudulent representation for monetary gain.

During the trial, Erinle admitted to being a convicted fraudster in the United States, where he served 23 months in prison for similar offences.

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Although he initially denied the charges, he later expressed remorse, stating, “I am sorry.”

Justice Oshodi, after considering the facts of the case, convicted Erinle on 26 September 2023, sentencing him to 12 years in prison for obtaining money under false pretence.

The sentence was ordered to run concurrently, beginning from 10 February 2023. Erinle’s company was also fined N50 million and ordered to be wound up, with all proceeds forfeited to the Federal Government.

Erinle sought to appeal the conviction, but the EFCC’s counsel, T.J. Banjo, argued that the appeal lacked merit and urged the appellate court to dismiss it.

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In the lead judgment, Justice Danlami Zama Senchi upheld the lower court’s ruling, stating that the prosecution had successfully proven its case beyond reasonable doubt.

Erinle’s appeal was dismissed, cementing the conviction and serving as a stern reminder of the consequences of financial fraud.

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