Court Gives ‘Yahoo Boy’ Jail Time, Strips Him Off All His Achievements

The Federal High Court in Ilorin has sentenced Olukayode Emmanuel Olamilekan, 26, of Akure, Ondo State, to prison for offences linked with cybercrime.

Olukayode was found guilty on two counts brought against him by the EFCC’s Ilorin Zonal Command office and was given a two-year prison term by the Federal High Court Justice Muhammed Sani.

The suspect was one of thirty suspected internet fraudsters who were detained on April 26, 2022, in Ado-Ekiti during a sting operation in the state capital as a result of intelligence tips on the operations of fraudsters in the region.

Investigations into the matter, according to the anti-graft agency, showed that Olukayode, who currently holds no defined occupation, specializes in internet fraud and has benefited from his fraudulent operations to the tune of several million naira, some of which he used to buy a Mercedes Benz ML 350 for the sum of N13 million.

To the accusations made against him, the defendant entered a plea of guilty.

Sesan Ola, the attorney for the EFCC, reviewed the case’s facts after the defendant entered a guilty plea.

He presented the defendant’s extrajudicial statements, phones, a HP laptop, the automobile that was seized from him at the time of the arrest, as well as fraudulent messages that were printed from his devices and were brought in as evidence.

Ola requested the court to declare the defendant guilty in accordance with his admission of guilt and the evidence presented to the court.

In his ruling, Justice Sani stated that he thought the prosecution’s case had merit and that the defendant should thus be found guilty.

On counts one and two, the trial court sentenced Olukayode to one-year imprisonment each, with the possibility of an added N300,000 fine.

The court also mandated that the Federal Government obtain the one iPhone 12, Infinix X 65, HP laptop, and Mercedes Benz ML 350 that were taken from the convict at the time of arrest.