Justice Mahmud Abdulgafar of Kwara State High Court, Ilorin on Thursday, October 13, 2022, sentenced a 27-year-old Mechanic, Adebayo Muhamed Bolaji to twelve months imprisonment, having found him guilty of offences bordering on cybercrime and possession of fraudulent funds.
Adebayo, who hails from Ilorin West Local Government Area of Kwara State was arraigned on a two-count charge before the court on Wednesday, October 12, 2022 by the Ilorin Zonal Command of the Economic and Financial Crimes Commission, EFCC.
Adebayo’s journey to the Nigerian Correctional Centre started on September 15, 2022 when the Commission acting on intelligence about the activities of some internet fraudsters operating along Airport Road, Ilorin effected his arrest.
Count 2 of the charge reads:
“That you, Adebayo Muhamed Bolaji, sometime in the month of September 2021 and September 2022 in Ilorin, within the jurisdiction of this Honorable Court knowingly had under your control the sum of N3, 200,000 (Three Million, Two Hundred Thousand Naira) through your bank account number 2011025023 domiciled with Kuda Microfinance Bank Ltd, reasonably suspected to be have been unlawfully obtained and thereby committed an offence contrary to and punishable under Section 319A of the Penal Code”
He pleaded guilty to the charge.
Relying on the guilty plea by the defendant, his confessional statement and the uncontroverted evidence of the prosecution, Justice Abdulgafar convicted and slammed Adebayo with six months suspended sentence on counts 1 and 2, to run concurrently. The judge also ordered that the convict’s Toyota Camry, one iPhone 13 and the sum of $520 (Five Hundred and Twenty United States Dollars) which he brought as restitution be forfeited to the Federal Government.