From Olayiwola Olanrewaju, Ilorin
Justice Muhammed Sani of the Federal High Court in Ilorin on Monday convicted a 26-year-old Computer Engineer, Olabisi Damilola Samuel, from Boluwaduro Local Government Area of Osun State, and two others over offences bordering on cybercrime and retention of proceeds of unlawful activities.
The two others are Ajayi Opeyemi Olayemi, a DJ from Akure South Local Government Area of Ondo State and Timothy Abidemi Olakunle from Ijero Local Government Area of Ekiti State.
The Ilorin Zonal Command of the Economic and Financial Crimes Commission (EFCC) prosecuted the trio of Olabisi, Ajayi and Timothy on separate charges to which they pleaded guilty.
Following their guilty plea, Aliyu Adebayo and Andrew Akoja who prosecuted the cases on behalf of the Commission reviewed the facts of the cases from the bar and tendered the extra-judicial statements of the defendants, phones, laptops recovered from them at the point of arrest and fraudulent messages printed from their devices, which were admitted in evidence.
Read also: Adeleke cautions supporters against attack on APC members in Osun
Adebayo and Akoja urged the court to hold that the prosecution had established the essential ingredients of crime against the defendants to warrant their conviction.
Justice Sani in his judgement found the defendants guilty and sentenced them to various jail terms.
Olabisi was sentenced to three years imprisonment with the option of a fine of N500,000 on count one while he was handed a fine of N186,600 on count two. The court ordered that the iPhone and Hp Laptop recovered from the convict be forfeited to the federal government.
Similarly, the judge sentenced Ajayi to three years imprisonment with the option of N500,0000 each on counts one and two and ordered the forfeiture of his three phones and a Laptop, which the convict used to perpetrate the crime to the federal government.
In the same vein, Timothy bagged three years imprisonment with the option of N200,000 each on counts one and two which are to run concurrently. The court also ordered that the convict’s iPhone 11 Promax which was used to perpetrate the crime be forfeited to the federal government.