By Adekunle Jimoh, Ilorin, and Rosemary Nwisi, Port Harcourt
A HIGH Court in Ilorin, the Kwara State capital, yesterday sentenced 20-year-old Oke Gideon to 30 days imprisonment for internet fraud and romance scam.
Operative of the Ilorin zone of the Economic and Financial Crimes Commission (EFCC), on May 4, arrested Gideon following intelligence reports on his nefarious activities.
Upon arrest, he volunteered statements, admitting that he was involved in dating scam, love scam, and other internet fraud-related offences.
He was arraigned in court on July 2.
Yesterday he pleaded guilty of obtaining “$150 worth gift from one Bradley Miller under false pretences” that he was “Jenna Cherry, a white female from Las Vegas, United States of America”.
In his judgment, Justice Mahmood Abdulgafar ordered forfeiture of the convict’s iPhone 6 and HP laptop which were used as instruments in the crime.
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Gideon was given an option of N50,000 fine.
A Chief Magistrate Court sitting in Port Harcourt, Rivers State also sentenced one Ifeanyi Ezeji to seven years in prison for defiling his 12-year-old house help.
Ezeji, 40, committed the offence at Eastern Bypass, Port Harcourt Local Government Area of the state on July 11, 2019.
Magistrate Felicitas Amanze condemned the attempt by the victim’s family to accept N150,000 from the convict and settle out of court, adding that the assault damaged the victim’s psyche and self-worth.
She handed a seven-year jail sentence to Ezeji, saying it was the most lenient sentencing he could get for such a serious offence.
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