18th December, 2023
The Economic and Financial Crimes Commission, EFCC has dismissed claims that one Victor Oche Odeh who was among five suspects convicted for internet fraud by Justice Darius Khobo of the Kaduna State High Court on July 21, 2023 was seven years old.
Odeh was among five undergraduates convicted and sentenced to two years imprisonment each, after pleading guilty to one-count separate charge bordering on internet fraud by the Kaduna State High Court.
The other convicts are: Chidebere Stanley Opara( a.ka. Avail Hollywood), Manasseh Sefa Ephraim ( a.k.a Felicia_dannyyels), Chukwukere Obinna Paul( a.ka. Shaun Lee) and Enyogu Etim Ekpo( a.ka.a Henry Wilson, Jasdav7).
However, there have been speculations on social media that Odeh was seven years old when he was arrested for internet fraud, paraded and arraigned in court by the EFCC.
But the anti-graft agency denied the claim in a statement by its spokesperson, Dele Oyewale on Monday. According to the statement, Odeh was 19 years old and an undergraduate when he was arrested and arraigned for internet fraud.
The statement partly reads “The attention of the Economic and Financial Crimes Commission, EFCC, has been drawn to some insinuation and contrived accounts of the conviction of an internet fraudster, Victor Oche Odeh by Justice Darius Khobo of the Kaduna State High Court on July 21, 2023.
“In a Press Release of the EFCC, dated July 11, 2023, the ages of all the convicts, including Odeh’s, were not stated. For the purpose of clarity, Odeh is 19 years old.
“All the false narratives being bandied about in some section of the social media that he is seven years old should be ignored. The EFCC did not “parade” the convict, and is not a court of law that rightfully convicted him.
“Facts are sacred. Information about the offense, prosecution, conviction, and sentence of Odeh are in all social media platforms of the EFCC. The public is enjoined to ignore any hoopla connected to his conviction.”
Dele Oyewale
Head, Media & Publicity
December 18, 2023
