Three internet fraudsters sentenced to community service in Abuja

The Federal High Court, Abuja, has sentenced three Internet fraudsters, popularly called ‘yahoo boys’, to community service.

The three young boys were arraigned for fraud by the Economic and Financial Crimes Commission, EFCC, Abuja Zonal Command.

The EFCC, in a statement on Tuesday, gave the names of the three convicts as: Victor Joseph, Mohammed Edogi Mohammed and Johnson Nifemi.

They were sentenced on Monday after being arraigned on one count each bothering on internet fraud.

According to the statement, Joseph allegedly pretended to be a marine engineer named Zhang Li and obtained N150,000 from one Xiao, a Chinese citizen.

Mohammed, the second suspect, also posed as Bryan Alex on various social media apps and obtained N1,500,000 from Lekin Elli, Williana and Flavio; and Nifemi, the third suspect, posed as an American engineer with the name John Alpha and defrauded Jane Appado, a United States of America citizen of $170.

The FCT High Court, Gwagwalada, presided by Justice A.I. Akobi, awarded the sentence of community service after finding the suspects guilty of the crime.

The statement explained, “Joseph allegedly pretended to be a marine engineer named Zhang Li and obtained N150,000 (One Hundred and Fifty Thousand Naira Only) from one Xiao, a Chinese citizen, while Mohammed also posed as a Bryan Alex on various social media apps and obtained N1,500,000 (One Million Five Hundred Thousand Naira Only) from LekinElli, Williana and Flavio. Nifemi impersonated one John Alpha, an American engineer and defrauded one Jane Appado, a United States of America citizen of $170 (One hundred and seventy US Dollars).”