By our Reporter
Justice Mahmud Abdulgafar of the Kwara State High Court in Ilorin has sentenced a 26-year-old apprentice photographer, Amole Samuel Anuoluwapo from Akinyele Local Government Area, Ibadan, Oyo State and one Adeboye Abel Oluwapelumi from Irepodun Local Government Area of Kwara State to various jail terms, having found them guilty of offences bordering on cybercrime.
Amole and Adeboye who are to spend their terms in custody of the Nigerian Correctional Centre, started their journey to jail on May 4, 2023 when the duo were arrested in Ilorin upon intelligence on their fraudulent activities by operatives of the Ilorin Zonal Command of Economic and Financial Crimes Commission, EFCC.
The anti-graft agency on Tuesday, June 13, 2023 arraigned Amole and Adeboye on separate charges, to which they pleaded guilty.
Upon their “guilty pleas”, counsel to the EFCC Anselm Ozioko (Jnr.) led witnesses who are operatives of the Commission in evidence to review the facts of the cases. The witnesses narrated the circumstances surrounding the arrest of the defendants and tendered their extra-judicial statements, phones and a sum of N218, 000 (Two Hundred and Eighteen Thousand Naira Only), which Adeboye benefited from the crime and were admitted in evidence by the court.
Thereafter, Ozioko (Jnr.) prayed the court to hold that the prosecution had established the essential ingredients of the case to warrant the conviction of the defendants.
Justice Abdulgafar on Wednesday, June 14, 2023, held that the prosecution had proved its case beyond reasonable doubt and pronounced the defendants guilty of their respective charges.
The judge gave Amole a six months suspended sentence. He also ordered that the iPhone 7 plus, which was recovered from him at the point of arrest be forfeited to the Federal Government.
In the same vein, Adeboye was handed a six months suspended sentence on count 1 and one year on count 2.
In addition, the court ordered that one iPhone 11 recovered from him at the point of arrest and the sum of N218,000 (Two Hundred and Eighteen Thousand Naira Only) which he benefited from his criminal activities be forfeited to the Federal Government.