The Federal High Court in Lagos on Thursday convicted two more internet fraud suspects arrested by the EFCC earlier this month during a raid on the Olusegun Obasanjo Presidential Library (OOPL) complex in Abeokuta, Ogun State.
Asimiyu Olatunji and Hassan Makinde were convicted of online impersonation, bringing the total convictions from the operation to 17 so far.
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Delivering the judgement, the judge, Dehinde Dipeolu, sentenced the two men to three months in prison each, with an option of a N500,000 fine.
The court ordered that their iPhones be forfeited to the federal government.
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Also, Mr Dipeolu ordered them to refund their illicit gains — $350 in Mr Olatunji’s case and about $10,000 (N1.5 million) in Mr Makinde’s case.
PREMIUM TIMES reported that on 10 August, operatives of the Economic and Financial Crimes Commission (EFCC) arrested 93 suspected internet fraudsters in a midnight raid on a hotel within the OOPL complex.
The suspects were allegedly celebrating proceeds of cybercrime at a pool party when the operatives swooped in.
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The EFCC clarified that the library itself was not the target of the operation.
However, the agency said the suspects had shifted the party to the OOPL hotel after learning that their original venue was under surveillance.
The EFCC subsequently announced its plan to arraign 23 out of the 93 arrested suspects before the Federal High Court in Lagos.
Between 15 and 20 August, 15 suspects had pleaded guilty and been convicted by the Federal High Court in Lagos.
As of 18 August, seven of the suspects, in batches of three and four, had been convicted.
The court convicted an additional eight on 20 August.
The number of convictions reached 17 convictions with two additional suspects convicted on Thursday.
So far, only two of the defendants brought to court had pleaded not guilty prompting a full trial.
OOPL management’s reaction
The OOPL management had condemned the raid, describing it as “gestapo-like.”
This newspaper reported that the library’s Managing Director, Vitalis Ortese, alleged that operatives fired gunshots, injured guests, and seized vehicles without a warrant.
The library demanded N3.5 million for confiscated property, N1 billion in compensation for alleged bodily harm, and N2.5 billion in damages for reputational injury to the institution and its founder, former President Olusegun Obasanjo.
It also issued a seven-day ultimatum to the EFCC and the Inspector-General of Police to apologise or face legal action.
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In recent months, the agency has obtained convictions against both Nigerian and foreign defendants, including Chinese and Filipino nationals.
In December 2024, the EFCC carried out one of its largest raids, arresting 792 suspects at the Big Leaf Building on Victoria Island, Lagos, where an international romance and investment scam hub was allegedly operating under the guise of a corporate facility.
Several of the foreign suspects have since been convicted following plea bargains.
Also, the federal government has deported many of the convicted foreign nationals
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