Court jails five cyber stalkers for defrauding ex-Speaker, circulating nude video

The Osun State division of the Federal High Court on Tuesday, sentenced five men to five years imprisonment each, over cyber-stalking and defrauding ex-Speaker of Osun State House of Assembly, Timothy Owoeye, to the tune of N38m.

The trial judge, Justice Nathaniel Ayo-Emmanuel convicted the accused, Kazeem Agbabiaka, Rasheed Ojonla, Babatunde Oluajo, Adebiyi Kehinde, Femi Oseni, and Oyebanji Oyeniyi having been found guilty of the offence preferred against them.

Recalls that sometime in 2018, a 13-second nude video of Owoeye had gone viral on the Internet.

In the video, Owoeye was accosted by some people, who accused him of coming to their community to perform a ritual.

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The Osun State Police Command arrested those in the video, who were alleged to have used the clip to obtain around N38m from Owoeye before the clip was reportedly released on the Internet.

The convicts, on apprehension by the police, were arraigned before the court on October 19, 2018, on five counts bordering on conspiracy; advance free fraud and cyber-stalking.

Delivering judgment on the case, Justice Ayo-Emmanuel said the convicts operated like a web syndicate, subjecting their victims to hardship and so, they deserved no leniency.

He subsequently passed a guilty verdict on them and sentenced Agbabiaka, Oyeniyi, Ojonla and Oluajo to five years imprisonment for conspiracy and advance-free fraud.

The judge, however, discharged and acquitted Ismaila Azeez, on the count bordering on cyber-stalking, but found Oseni guilty of the same charge and sentenced him to five years imprisonment.