Kwara Musician, Others Bag 20 Years for Cybercrime

Justice Muhammed Sani of the Federal High Court sitting in Ilorin, Kwara State, has convicted and  sentenced a Lokoja- born musician, Samuel Onojah,  and two others to 20 years imprisonment for offences bordering on cybercrime.

Onojah was convicted on Monday, September 12, 2022 alongside Victor Kadiyamo and Jejelowo Segun, after pleading guilty to separate counts of internet fraud.

They were arraigned in court by the Ilorin Zonal Command of the Economic and Financial Crimes Commission.

The charge against Samuel read in part, “That you, Samuel Onojah, sometime in May 2022, at Lokoja, Kogi State, within the jurisdiction of the Federal High Court, fraudulently impersonated one Richard Philips via your Instagram account linked to your gmail account: [email protected] with intent to obtain money from one Erika which you did obtain the sum of 8 pounds worth gift cards and thereby committed an offence contrary to Section 22 (2) (ii) of Cybercrime (Prohibition Prevention) Act, 2015, and punishable under Section 22(2)(b)(iv) of the same act.”

Following their pleas, the counsel to the EFCC, Andrew Akoja reviewed the facts of the cases and prayed the judge to convict and sentence them accordingly.

In his judgment, Justice Sani convicted and sentenced Onojah to three years imprisonment on counts one  and two, with an  option of N100,000 on each count.

Kadiyamo was also convicted and  sentenced to three years imprisonment on counts one, two  and three,   with options  of fine of N100,000 on counts one and two, while count three carried an option of fine of N54,194,680.

In the same vein, Segun was convicted and  sentenced to five  years imprisonment with an option of fine of  N500,000.