Court jails final-year student, 3 others for internet fraud
On Monday, Justice Mahmud Abdulgafar sentenced a 25-year-old final-year polytechnic student, Olaitan Abdulwahab, and three others to various jail terms for internet fraud-related offenses.
The four students were arraigned by the Economic and Financial Crimes Commission, Ilorin Zonal Directorate, on Monday, July 14, 2025, and the Commission secured the conviction of a final-year student and three others for offences bordering on Internet fraud.
According to a statement by Dele Oyewale, the EFCC’s Head of Media and Publicity, on Tuesday, Olaitan Abdulwahab Damilare, a 25-year-old Higher National Diploma student of Quantity Surveying from a prominent Kwara State polytechnic, was sentenced to six months imprisonment by Justice Mahmud Abdulgafar of the Kwara State High Court in Ilorin.
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Olaitan Abdulwahab Damilare was convicted alongside Maruf Quadri Kolawole, Habeeb Abiodun Jimoh, and Mubarak Moruf. Justice Mahmud Abdulgafar sentenced Olaitan, Maruf, and Habeeb, while Justice Sulaiman Akanbi of another Kwara State High Court division handed down Mubarak’s conviction and sentence.
The convicts faced separate charges for cheating by personation and obtaining under false pretenses, which are offenses punishable under Sections 321 and 324 of the Penal Code.
The charge against Olaitan Abdulwahab Damilare reads: “That you, OLAITAN ABDULWAHAB DAMILARE (a.k.a Fav), sometime in January 2024, in Ilorin, Kwara State, dishonestly induced a white man named Michael to send gift cards worth $2,100 by pretending to be Fav, a white woman in a romantic relationship with him, thereby committing an offense contrary to Section 321 and punishable under Section 324 of the Penal Code Laws of Northern Nigeria.”
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The charge against Maruf Quadri Kolawole reads: “That you, MARUF QUADRI KOLAWOLE, sometime in February 2025, in Ilorin, Kwara State, cheated by personation by pretending to be Frank Matt on Facebook, and in that guise, induced Philip Solomon to send you 950 Australian dollars, thereby committing an offense contrary to Section 321 and punishable under Section 324 of the Penal Code Law.”
The defendants pleaded guilty to their charges. Following their guilty pleas, prosecution counsels Aliyu Adebayo and Mustapha Kaigama presented the case facts through witnesses who were operatives of the commission.
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The prosecution tendered the defendants’ extrajudicial statements, exhibits recovered at the point of arrest, and various amounts of money brought as restitution, all of which were admitted as evidence.
“Following the unchallenged evidence, the judges found the defendants guilty and handed down sentences accordingly,” he stated.
In his judgment, Justice Abdulgafar sentenced Olaitan to six months imprisonment at the Nigerian Correctional Service in Ilorin and ordered that the sum of $2000, which he benefited from the proceeds of his unlawful activities, one iPhone XR and one Samsung phone be forfeited to the Federal Government of Nigeria.
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Justice Abdulgafar sentenced Maruf to six months’ imprisonment and ordered the forfeiture of his iPhone 13 Pro Max and $950 to the Federal Government.
Habeeb was also sentenced to six months imprisonment, with a forfeiture order on his iPhone 14 Pro Max, one HP laptop, and $365.
In a separate ruling, Justice Akanbi sentenced Mubarak to one year imprisonment or a fine of ₦400,000 and ordered the final forfeiture of his iPhone 15 Pro Max, iPhone 7, and $300.
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