A final-year student of the University of Port Harcourt, UNIPORT, Henry Nathaniel Ekanem, has bagged 14 years imprisonment for internet fraud.
In a statement issued by the Economic and Financial Crime Commission (EFCC), Ekanem was convicted on seven counts of obtaining money under pretence and impersonation, contrary to Section 1(1) (a) and punishable under Section 1(3) of the Advance Fee Fraud and other Fraud-Related Offences Act
The anti-graft agency said Ekanem defrauded Diana Roskov of $22 by posing as Coran Capshaw, manager of singer Chris Stapleton, through WhatsApp and Instagram chats.
Ekanem was arrested sometime in September 2024 at Choba, Port Harcourt.
He pleaded guilty when the charge was read to him. Given his plea, prosecution counsel, A. Abubakar, called witnesses and tendered some documents as evidence, which were admitted by the court and marked as exhibits.
Counsel to the defendant, F. T. Fred-Boufini, pleaded for leniency, citing Ekanem’s first-time offender status with no previous criminal records.
Justice A. T. Mohammed of the Federal High Court, sitting in Port Harcourt, Rivers State, convicted and sentenced the defendant to two years imprisonment on each of the seven counts or an option of a fine of Two Hundred Thousand Naira (N200,000) payable into the Consolidated Revenue Account of the Federal Government of Nigeria.
The judge also ordered that all phones recovered from the convict be forfeited to the government, being proceeds of crime.
The Judge ruled that the convict shall depose an affidavit of good behaviour before the court.
The conviction serves as a warning to those engaging in cybercrime and reinforces the EFCC’s commitment to combating financial crimes, the prosecuting counsel noted
