The Federal High Court in Ibadan, presided over by Justice Uche Agomoh, has convicted and sentenced two siblings, Amos Remilekun Ilesanmi and Olanrewaju Samuel Ilesanmi, along with Ugbeh Emmanuel Ukali, for mutilating naira notes.
The Ilesanmi brothers, both ex-convicts, were previously sentenced to three months of community service on October 2, 2024, for internet fraud, impersonation, and obtaining money by false pretence by Justice Ladiran Akintola of the Oyo State High Court. Meanwhile, Ukali is currently facing a separate internet fraud charge before the same court.
The trio was arraigned by the Ibadan Zonal Directorate of the Economic and Financial Crimes Commission (EFCC) on February 25, 2025, on a joint charge of naira mutilation.
According to the charge, on June 6, 2024, the defendants sprayed and trampled on ₦391,400 in ₦500 and ₦200 denominations at a nightclub in Akure, Ondo State, in violation of Section 21(4) of the Central Bank Act, 2007.
All three pleaded guilty, after which EFCC prosecutor, Abideen Muhammad Aliyu, presented evidence through an EFCC operative, Adegbite Adebayo, and urged the court to convict them. Defense counsel, Akinlabi Akinfala, pleaded for leniency, arguing that they were first-time offenders and had shown remorse.
Justice Agomoh sentenced each defendant to six months in prison without an option of a fine and ordered the forfeiture of the ₦391,400 to the federal government.
The convicts were arrested at a nightclub in Akure in June 2024, where they were seen spraying and trampling on naira notes.
The EFCC’s Head of Media & Publicity, Dele Oyewale, confirmed the ruling in a statement on March 10, 2025.
