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Two suspected internet fraudsters, Godwin Christopher and Temitope Ature Mario, have bagged jail terms in Abuja.
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According to a statement by the spokesman of the Economic and Financial Crimes Commission (EFCC), Dele Oyewale, on Tuesday night, Justice M.Y. Halilu of the Federal Capital Territory (FCT) High Court, Maitama, convicted and sentenced the two to one year of imprisonment each.
Oyewale said Christopher and Mario were jailed on Friday, February 28, 2025, after pleading guilty to one-count separate charges bordering on internet fraud.
Christopher’s charge read, “That you, Godwin Christopher, sometime in 2024, at Abuja, within the jurisdiction of this Honourable Court, attempted to commit the offence of cheating by personation when you created a fake Facebook account with the profile name Annita Scott and pretended to be an American from Atlanta, Georgia, which you were not, and thereby committed an offence contrary to Section 95 and punishable under Section 324 of the Penal Code Act, Laws of the Federation, 2004.”
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Mario’s charge read, “That you, Temitope Ature Mario, sometime in 2024, at Abuja, within the jurisdiction of the High Court of the Federal Capital Territory, attempted to cheat by personation when you represented yourself on a Facebook profile page as Karlee Jean, a citizen of the United States of America, which you knew to be false, and you thereby committed an offence contrary to Section 95, when read in conjunction with Section 321 of the Penal Code Laws (Laws of the Federation, Abuja) 1900, and punishable under Section 324 of the same law.”
They both pleaded guilty to their respective charges when they were read to them.
Based on their pleas, prosecution counsel S. N. Roberts prayed the court to convict and sentence them accordingly.
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Justice Halilu thereafter convicted and sentenced both Christopher and Mario to one year of imprisonment or a fine of N100,000 each.
The judge also ordered that their phones be forfeited to the Federal Government.
“The two convicts bagged their imprisonment when they were arrested for internet fraud. They were prosecuted and convicted,” Oyewale added.
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