Internet fraud: Four Obasanjo Library suspects, 7 others jailed

By Ayorinde Oluokun/Abuja

Eleven suspects arrested for internet fraud have bagged various jail terms after they pleaded guilty to separate charges bordering on impersonation, identity and internet fraud filed against them by the Economic and Financial Crimes Commission, EFCC.

According to a statement by Dele Oyewale, the spokesperson for EFCC, the convicted suspects include four among the 93 suspected internet fraudsters recently arrested during sting operation on Sunday, August 10, 2025 at a hotel within the precincts of Olusegun Obasanjo Presidential Library, OOPL, Abeokuta, Ogun State.

Two of the suspects arrested at OOPL identified as Yusuf Ramon and Ganiyu Ibrahim were arraigned before Justce D.I. Dipeolu of the Federal High Court sitting in Ikoyi, Lagos, on Tuesday.

The charge against Ramon reads: That you, YUSUF RAMON, on or about 10in August, 2025 at Lagos within the Jurisdiction of this Honourable Court, fraudulently impersonated one “ANNA MARRY”, a white woman on your Instagram handle, “@marie barbelon with intent to gain advantage for yourself and you thereby committed an offence contrary to and punishable under Section 22(2)(b) of the Cyber Crimes (Prohibition, Prevention Etc) Act, 2015.”

The charge against Ibrahim reads: “ That you, GANIU IBRAHIM (a.k.a ‘Elena Pears’) sometime in August, 2025 within the jurisdiction of this Honourable Court, had in your possession a Facebook Account titled: ‘Elenapears” wherein you fraudulently represented yourself as ‘Elena Pears’ a White American Female to one Brad through your Facebook account which is connected to your Iphone 13 with no: 09050610185 with intent to gain advantage for yourself contrary to S. 22(2)(b) (i) of the Cybercrimes (Prohibition, Prevention etc.) Act, 2015 and punishable under S. 22(2) (b) (iv) of the same law.”

They each pleaded “guilty” to the charges preferred against them.

In view of their guilty pleas, prosecution counsel, S.M. Yabo called two investigative officers, Chukwu Christian and Izuchukwu Collins, respectively, to review the facts of the cases.

Yabo, thereafter, sought to tender, in evidence, the extra-judicial statements of the defendants; Ramon’s iPhone XX and iPhone XX Max; Ibrahim’s iPhone 13; the N200,000 bank draft in restitution made by Ibrahim as well as the forensic investigation documents printed from their mobile devices.

They were all admitted as exhibits by the court.

The judge, in view of the defendants’ guilty pleas and evidence tendered by the prosecution, found them guilty and convicted them accordingly.

The defence counsel, respectively, pleaded with the judge to “ temper justice with mercy,” adding that their clients were first-time offenders who have shown remorse.

Delivering judgment, Justice Dipeolu convicted and sentenced Ramon to one month imprisonment from the day of his arrest, with the option of fine of N200,000( Two Hundred Thousand Naira).

The judge ordered that the mobile devices recovered from him be forfeited to the Federal Government.

Justice Dipeolu also convicted and sentenced Ibrahim, who confessed to have benefited the sum of $150( One Hundred and Fifty Dollars ) from his criminal activities, to one month imprisonment, with the option of fine of N200,000 ( Two Hundred Thousand Naira ).

Two of the suspects also agreed to refund N150,000 and N1 million each to their victims.

The Judge ordered that the iPhone 13 recovered from him as well as the sum of N200,000 bank draft be forfeited to the Federal Government of Nigeria.

Also, Olugbodi Adefolarin Pamilerin and Adenuga Ezekiel Oluwaseyi who are among the 93 suspected fraudsters arrested at OOPL were also convicted and jailed on Tuesday by Justice Dipeolu.

The convicts were arraigned on separate two-count charges bordering on impersonation, identity and internet fraud.

One of the counts against Pamilerin reads:

“That you, Olugbodi Adefolarin Pamilerin (male), sometime in 2025, within the Lagos Judicial Division of the Federal High Court of Nigeria, fraudulently held out yourself as Emily Eddins on your Telegram account, to unsuspecting members of the public, with intent to gain advantage for yourself and you thereby committed an offence contrary to and punishable under Section 22(2)(b) of the Cybercrimes (Prohibition etc.) Act, Laws of the Federation of Nigeria”

Another count against Pamilerin reads: “That you, Olugbodi Adefolarin Pamilerin (Male) sometime in 2025, within the Lagos Judicial Division of the Federal High Court of Nigeria, with intent to defraud, retained in your control the total sum of $160USD which were proceeds of criminal conduct, deceitfully obtained from unsuspecting members of the public, and you thereby committed an offence contrary to and punishable under Section 17 of the Economic and Financial Crimes Commission (Establishment etc) Act No: 4 of 2004.”

Meanwhile, one of the counts against Oluwaseyi reads: “That you, Adenuga Ezekiel Oluwaseyi (Male), sometime in 2025, within the Lagos Judicial Division of the Federal High Court of Nigeria, fraudulently held out yourself as a lady in your gmail accounts, [email protected] and [email protected] to unsuspecting members of the public, with intent to gain advantage for yourself and you thereby committed an offence contrary to and punishable under section 22(2)(b) of the Cybercrimes (Prohibition etc.) Act, Laws of the Federation of Nigeria 2015.”

Another count reads: “That you, Adenuga Ezekiel Oluwaseyi (Male), sometime in 2025, within the Lagos Judicial Division of the Federal High Court of Nigeria, with intent to defraud, retained in your control the total sum of $1000USD which were proceeds of criminal conduct, deceitfully obtained from unsuspecting members of the public, and you thereby committed an offence contrary to and punishable under Section 17 of the Economic and Financial Crimes Commission (Establishment etc) Act No: 4 of 2004.”

They each pleaded “guilty” to the charges preferred against them.

In view of their guilty pleas, the prosecution counsel, Franklin Ofoma, called two investigative officers, Eze Chijioke Bamanga Muhammed, respectively, to review the facts of the cases.

Ofoma, thereafter, sought to tender, in evidence, the extra-judicial statements of the defendants; Pamilerin’s iPhone 14; the N150,000 bank draft in restitution made by Pamilerin; both iPhone 15 pro max and iPhone 6S recovered from Oluwaseyi; the N1m bank draft in restitution made by Oluwaseyi as well as well as the forensic investigation documents printed from their devices.

They were all admitted as exhibits by the court.

The judge, in view of the defendants’ guilty pleas and evidence tendered by the prosecution, found them guilty and convicted them accordingly.

The defence counsel, respectively, pleaded with the judge to “ temper justice with mercy,” adding that their clients were first-time offenders who have shown remorse.

Delivering judgement, Justice Dipeolu convicted and sentenced Pamilerin, who confessed to have benefited $167 ( One Hundred and Sixty-seven Dollars) from his criminal activities to one month imprisonment, with the option of fine of N500,000( Five Hundred Thousand Naira).

The Judge ordered that the iPhone 14 recovered from him be forfeited to the Federal Government.

Justice Dipeolu also convicted and sentenced Oluwaseyi, who benefited the sum of $1,000 ( One Thousand United States Dollars ) from his criminal activities, to three months imprisonment ,with the option of fine of N2,000,000( Two Million Naira ).

The Judge ordered that his iPhone 15 pro max and iPhone 6S as well as the sum of N1m bank draft be forfeited to the Federal Government of Nigeria.

In Edo, Justice M. Itsueli of State High Court also convicted and jailed six internet fraudsters identified as Idemudia Destiny, Osifo Destiny, Nomanidobo Favour, Dauda Ahmed, David Samuel and Wisdom John.

They were prosecuted by the Benin Zonal Directorate of EFCC on separate one-count charges, bordering on impersonation, obtaining by false pretence, retention of proceeds of crime and possession of fraudulent documents.

The charge against Idemudia Destiny reads: “That you Idemudia Destiny (m) on or about the 1st of August, 2025, within the jurisdiction of this Honourable Court did have in your possession, on your iPhone 16 Plus, with IMEI Number 355648184280359, documents which you knew or ought to have known contain a false pretence and thereby committed an offence contrary to Section 6 and 8 of the Advance Fee Fraud and other Fraud Related Offences Act 2006 and punishable under Section 1(3) of the same Act.”

They all pleaded “guilty,” following which the prosecution counsel, K. Y. Bello prayed the court to convict and sentence them accordingly, while the defence counsel pleaded with the court to temper justice with mercy, stating that they have become remorseful for their actions.

Justice Itsueli convicted and sentenced all to two years imprisonment or to pay N200, 000 (Two Hundred Thousand Naira) fine, respectively.

All the convicts forfeited their phones, laptop computers and money in their bank accounts, being the tools and proceeds of their crimes, respectively to the federal government. They also undertook in writing to be of good behaviour henceforth.

The convicts were arrested and prosecuted by operatives of the Benin Zonal Directorate of the EFCC, following credible intelligence that exposed their fraudulent internet activities.

In Kaduna, Justice M.J. Zubairu of the State High Court, sitting in Kaduna, on Tuesday, August 19, 2025, convicted and jailed one Muhammad Kabiru who was arraigned before him on a one-count charge that bordered on criminal impersonation.

The charge reads: “That you Muhammad Kabiru, (a.k.a Jennifer Aniston) sometime in July, 2025, in Kaduna within the jurisdiction of this Honourable Court, committed an offence to wit: falsely presented yourself as Jennifer Aniston (a citizen of United States of America) to several unsuspecting victims via ‘Telegram’ chat (an online social media application) in a bid to lure them into love scam, which pretence you knew to be false and thereby committed an offence contrary to and punishable under Section 142(1) of the Kaduna State Penal Code Law, 2017.”

He pleaded “guilty”, following which the prosecution counsel, M.U Gadaka urged the court to convict and sentence him accordingly.

Justice Zubairu convicted and sentenced him to two years imprisonment or to pay N200,000 (Two Hundred Thousand Naira) fine. In addition, he forfeited his iPhone 14 Pro to the federal government.

The convict was among the suspects arrested by the Kaduna Zonal Directorate of the EFCC on Governor Road, Kaduna metropolis, following intelligence that linked them to fraudulent internet activities.