17 Internet fraudsters have been sentenced to various jail terms in Oyo and Ogun states respectively
Their conviction was secured by the Ibadan zonal command of the Economic and Financial Crimes Commission, (EFCC).
The convicts were arraigned before Justice Olusola Adetujoye of the Oyo State High Court, Ibadan and Justice A.A. Babawale of the Ogun State High Court, sitting in Abeokuta on a separate one-count charge each.
They all pleaded guilty to the charges when they were read to them.
Consequently, facts of the cases were reviewed by the prosecution counsels as indicting documents and other incriminating materials were tendered as evidence before the courts. Prosecution counsels further prayed to the courts to convict and sentence the defendants accordingly.
Upon the prayers of the prosecution counsels as contained in a statement by the Commission, Head Media and Publicity, Dele Oyewale, Justice Babawale convicted and sentenced one of the convicts to one-year imprisonment without an option of fine.
Also, Justice Adetujoye convicted and sentenced others to between one to two months imprisonment.
Items forfeited by the convicts to the Federal Government of Nigeria included one gold colour Lexus ES 330 with Registration number: FKG 184 HZ, one unregistered silver colour Toyota Corolla 2006 model, one black colour Honda Pilot 2004 model with registration number: LSR 783 HW and Chassis number: 2HKYF18464H598117 and one black Lexus ES 300 2002 model with registration number: APP 27 GT with chassis number: JTHBF30G020048119 among others.
In a related development, the Oyo State Command of the Nigeria Police Force handed over four suspected internet fraudsters to the Ibadan Zonal Command of the EFCC on January 26, 2024.
They were arrested at Soka area of Ibadan, Oyo State following actionable intelligence on suspected fraudulent internet-related activities.
Items recovered from them include one unregistered Toyota Camry, one gold colour Toyota Camry with Registration number: APP 192 CB, two laptops and five mobile phones among others.
They would be charged to court as soon as investigations are concluded.