Court Jails Man 1 Year Over Fake Instagram Profile

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Court Jails Man 1 Year Over Fake Instagram Profile https://osazuwaakonedo.news/court-jails-man-1-year-over-fake-instagram-profile/09/10/2024/ #EFCC #Abuja #Bola #Corruption #Instagram #Lagos #news #Nigeria #Tinubu Published: October 9th, 2024 Reshared: October 9, 2024 10:13 pm Lagos State High Court

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00:00Lagos State High Court has sentenced a man to one-year imprisonment for being in possession

00:05of a fake Instagram profile used to defraud unsuspecting members of the public just as

00:10Nigeria President, Bona Ametilugu says, corruption has become a cancer denying the country its

00:16benefits.

00:17These were made known in news releases made available by the Public Relations Department

00:23of the Economic and Financial Crimes Commission, EFCC, during the week.

00:29Details of the press releases read verbatim below.

00:32Tilugu charges Nigerians to close ranks, raise stronger voices against corruption.

00:39President Bona Ametilugu has called on Nigerians from all walks of life to come together and

00:44form formidable unifying forces against economic and financial crimes and other acts of corruption.

00:51He gave the charge in Abuja on Monday, October 7, 2024 while declaring open the Sixth Economic

00:58and Financial Crimes Commission, EFCC, NJI's workshop for justices and judges.

01:07The president pointed out that corruption had become a cancer denying the nation the

01:11full benefits of its God-given resources and for its corrosive effects to be destroyed,

01:17Nigerians must rise up combatively against it.

01:21No Nigerian is immune from corruption, a cancer which continues to deny the nation the full

01:26benefits of its God-given resources.

01:29Rather than look up only to the anti-corruption agencies for a solution to this malaise, I

01:35believe it is in our enlightened collective interest to close ranks and aggressively tackle

01:40this common enemy, he said.

01:43Tilugu, who spoke through Vice President Kashim Shetima applauded rising improvements in the

01:49prosecution of corruption matters owing to positive developments in the justice sector

01:53reforms, admitted that challenges impeding the speedy adjudication of corruption cases

01:59should be frontally tackled.

02:02Some of them, he noted, include frivolous applications and appeals, intimidation of

02:08judges by counsel, judgment not based on facts of cases but on technicalities.

02:15He commended the EFCC for its courageous and focused efforts in combating corrupt practices

02:21and pledged more support to the Commission.

02:24We will also continue to support the work of the EFCC to ensure that it continues to

02:29deliver its statutory mandate without late or hindrance, he said.

02:34Executive Chairman of the EFCC, Mr. Ola Onukwede amplified other challenges affecting speedy

02:42trial of corruption cases.

02:44According to him, the spectre of frequent adjournments of high-profile corruption cases

02:49arising from frivolous applications, conflicting orders by courts or coordinated jurisdiction

02:55in corruption cases, intemperate contempt orders held at the Commission's leadership,

03:00unwarranted orders of injunction restraining the Commission from investigating cases, are

03:04among a plethora of issues that bother the EFCC.

03:08Owing to some of these challenges, especially the incidence of suspects facing criminal

03:13investigation rushing to court to obtain orders of injunction restraining the EFCC from inviting

03:20investigating, interrogating and arresting them, Onukwede stated that the Commission

03:25was unable to conduct investigation in at least 10 states of the Federation.

03:30In spite of all this, the EFCC's boss stressed that the Commission has been unretired in

03:36its works, engaging stakeholders locally and globally to tackle the monster of corruption.

03:43As a Commission, our efforts at integrating stakeholders in the fight against corruption

03:48are continuous.

03:49Earlier this year, we held a stakeholders dialogue on the issue of cybercrime where

03:55we equally unveiled the Commission's new focus on corruption prevention with the establishment

04:00of fraud risk assessment and control.

04:03Frack, we are convinced that it is ultimately more profitable to prevent than to investigate

04:09and prosecute corruption cases, he said.

04:13The workshop, themed Integrating Stakeholders in Common Economic and Financial Crimes, drew

04:20a mammoth crowd of stakeholders, policymakers, top government officials, civil society organizations

04:27and anti-corruption bodies.

04:30Chief Justice of Nigeria, Justice K.M.

04:33Okikere-Ekun stated that, for every stakeholder in the anti-corruption corridor to be integrated

04:39there would be a need for the establishment of a coherent and unified structure for information

04:45sharing across institutions.

04:47No single entity can have a complete view of the financial system, making it imperative

04:53that information flows seamlessly among all stakeholders, she said.

04:58Attorney General and Minister of Justice, Latif Fagbemi, son, in his remarks, stated

05:05that building strong legal frameworks, effective law enforcement and international cooperation

05:11were imperative to combat financial crimes and unify stakeholders.

05:16He also called for renewal of commitment to higher values to move the nation forward.

05:22Let us renew our commitment to justice, integrity and the well-being of our nation, he said.

05:29Other dignitaries that graced the opening session of the workshop include, former Secretary

05:34General of the Commonwealth, Chief Emeka Anyoku, Senate President, President of the

05:40Court of Appeal, Justices of the Supreme Court, Court of Appeal, High Court, among others.

05:47Lagos Court jails man one year for possession of fraudulent documents.

05:52Justice O.O.

05:53Abike Fadipe of the Special Offences Court sitting in Ikeja, Lagos, on Tuesday, October

05:598, 2024, convicted and sentenced one Nonso Joseph Ekeocha to one-year imprisonment for

06:06possession of fraudulent documents.

06:09Ekeocha was prosecuted by the Lagos Directorate of the Economic and Financial Crimes Commission

06:15– EFCC, on a one-count charge bordering on possession of fraudulent documents used

06:21to perpetrate Roman scam.

06:23The count reads, Nonso Joseph Ekeocha, on or about the 27th of June 2024 in Lagos, within

06:32the judicial division of this Honorable Court, with the intent to defraud, had in your possession,

06:39Instagram profile account, wherein you represented yourself as Ronald Gregory, and other related

06:45documents for an online dating scam, which you knew or ought to know to be false.

06:50He pleaded guilty to the charge.

06:53Following his guilty plea, the Prosecution Council, I.G.

06:58Akanonu, prepped the court to call his witness, Ismail Saifulahi, an operative of the commission,

07:05to give a review of the facts.

07:08Saifulahi said the defendant was arrested alongside others who engaged in computer-related

07:13fraud in Lagos on June 29, 2024.

07:17Upon his arrest, he was brought to the EFCC office.

07:22Items recovered from him at the point of arrest were iPhone 12 Pro Max and Samsung S10 phones,

07:28which were analyzed through a forensic examination.

07:32The analysis revealed fraudulent documents about the defendant's involvement in an online

07:37dating scam, where he represented himself as a male American bearing Ronald Gregory.

07:44He informed the commission that he usually carried out the fraudulent activities by sending

07:48love messages randomly online to members of the public and that those who showed interest

07:53in having a relationship were asked for financial assistance.

07:58Akanonu further applied to tender, in evidence, the defendant's extrajudicial statement as

08:04well as the bundle of fraudulent documents printed out from his mobile phones.

08:09Justice Fadipe admitted them as exhibits and convicted him as charged.

08:15When he was given the opportunity to address the court, Nansu pleaded with the court to

08:20tamper justice with mercy, promising never to engage in internet fraud again.

08:26Consequently, Justice Fadipe sentenced him to one year imprisonment, with an option of

08:32500,000 liras and 50 hours community service.

08:37The judge also ordered that both the iPhone 12 Pro Max and Samsung S10 recovered from

08:43him be forfeited to the federal government of Nigeria.

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