Lagos ‘Prince’ Bags Six-Month Jail Term For Cybercrime

A Kwara state high court sitting has imposed a six-month jail term on one Oyekan Abdulbaqqi Adedoyin, who claimed to be a prince from Kosofe LGA of Lagos, for cybercrime.

Wilson Uwujaren, the spokesperson of the Economic and Financial Crimes Commission (EFCC), in a statement on Wednesday, said Sikiru Oyinloye, the judge, delivered the verdict in Ilorin.

According to the statement, the 25-year-old Oyekan was jailed with one Oni Stephen Oluwaferanmi from Ilesha, Osun state after they were arraigned on separate charges by the Ilorin zonal command of the EFCC.

Uwujaren said Oyekan and Oni pleaded guilty when the charges were read to them.

Upon their pleas, Andrew Akoja, counsel to the EFCC, led witnesses to review the facts of the two cases.

The witnesses, who are EFCC operatives, narrated how the defendants were arrested based on “credible intelligence”.

The prosecution also tendered items recovered from the defendants at the point of arrest including phones, laptops, and fraudulent messages printed from the defendants’ email addresses, which the court admitted in evidence.

Oyinloye, while delivering judgment on Tuesday, said that the court evaluated all the material evidence placed before it, the plea of guilt, and the uncontroverted testimonies of the prosecution witnesses.

The judge thereafter sentenced Oyekan to six months imprisonment with an option of a fine of N150,000.

The court also ordered the forfeiture of his iPhone and a Dell laptop, which the convict was said to have used in the crime.

For Oni, the judge delivered a one-year sentence with an option of a fine of N350,000.