In response to an internet fraud case, the FCT High Court in Gwagwalada on Thursday ordered student Istifanus Irmiya to clean the EFCC’s offices for two weeks.
Irmiya was penalized by the EFCC for a two-count accusation of impersonation and cheating.
He admitted the allegations and urged the judge to be forgiving.
In his ruling, Justice Aliyu Shafa found Irmiya guilty and sentenced her to two weeks of daily cleaning the commission’s property from 9 am to 12 pm.
Irmiya was also mandated by Shafa to pay a N100,000 fine.
He commanded the burning of the prisoner’s phone, which was used to continue the crime.
“I have carefully listened to the defendant’s and the defense attorney’s allocutus.
“The rate of internet fraud in society, including through Facebook, Instagram, and Whatsapp, is really disturbing. The fact that this is his first offense does not give him a pass.
“Yahoo-Yahoo usage among young people is disturbing. “Many people who turn to crime always have the ‘I want to get rich soon’ mentality. The judge decided that locking him up could harden him even more.
The defendant had already pleaded with the court to balance punishment with mercy and said he wouldn’t engage in such behavior again.
I’d like to implore the judge for leniency. I apologize sincerely for what I did. I’ve changed, and I now fully understand the repercussions of my offense,” he stated.
In support of the convict’s allocutus, Mr. Chibuike Chima, the defense attorney, informed the court that Irmiya had no prior convictions and was also repentant.
“Irmiya, the family’s lone son, is applying for admission to a university. He has been held by the EFCC for one month.
“The criminal has demonstrated regret for the act he committed and has expressed real repentance by returning the proceeds of the crime, which total $250.
“The criminal in prison is a first-time offender. He has never been found guilty of another crime of any type. My lord, we implore you, balance justice with mercy.
Chima begged, “We assure this court that the convict will be of good behavior moving ahead.
Irmiya had cheated through impersonation sometime in 2022 within the court’s jurisdiction, according to the EFCC Counsel, Ms. Taiwo Aromolaran.
According to Aromolaran, the criminal tricked his victim into believing she was her mistress Clara, a Caucasian woman.
She said that the criminal committed an illegal act when he forced a German guy named Alex Lexis to wire him the sum of 250 Euros, which he then transferred to his own account with Polaris Bank via the apps Nosh and PayPal.
She claimed that sometime in 2022, the convict also had documents in his hands that had false representations of him as a German on his Facebook and KK accounts, which he had set up with the intention of getting Alex Lexis to deliver money to him.
She claimed that the crime violated Section 321 of the Penal Code Act of the Federation (Abuja), 1990 and was penalized in accordance with Section 324 of the same Act.
Additionally, Section 6 of the Advance-Fee Fraud and Other Related Offenses Act, 2006, in conjunction with Section 8, which is criminal under Section 1(3) of the same Act.
She argued with the judge to order the forfeiture of the cell phone because it was the crime’s tool.
Aromolaran requested the court to take into account the growing threat of internet scams in Nigeria, noting that the perpetrators of these crimes sometimes worked in syndicates.
