The Special Offences Court sitting in Ikeja, Lagos State, on Thursday, March 7, 2024, sentenced a 100-level university part-time student of Computer Science, Emmanuel Victor, to 18 months imprisonment for online dating scam.

The presiding judge, Justice Rahman Oshodi, sentenced the student to prison after he pleaded guilty to the charge of possession of fraudulent document preferred against him by the Economic and Financial Crimes Commission (EFCC).

The EFCC counsel, Abubakar Dambua, in his review of fact, told the court that the anti-graft agency received an intelligence report on September 15, 2023, about the fraudulent activities of Victor and others.

Dambuwa said a raid was carried out and the convict was arrested.

He listed items recovered from the student to include an iPhone 13, a Samsung phone, ATM card, and managers’ cheque, among other fraudulent documents.

Dambua, thereafter, sought to tender all items recovered from the convict as evidence before the court.

The defence counsel, E. A. Ukpai, did not object to the admissibility of items recovered from the student.

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The student, who was asked by the judge how he did the scam, told the court that he created a false account in the name of ‘Agent Fred Smith’ on Facebook.

Victor said: “I asked the unsuspecting victims to apply for a social economic grant programme and I asked them to pay processing and delivery.

“I used $7,000 to resettle my family.

“We used to stay in a plank house and l used the money to provide better accommodation and pay my school fees.

“I am sorry for my fraudulent activities and I promise not to go back to crime if given another chance.

Ukpai, in her allocutus, said the student had realised his mistake and had become remorseful.

She said the convict was a first-time offender, adding: “We pray the court to temper justice with mercy and grant him non-custodial sentence because his mother is not well.”

Justice Oshodi, however, sentenced the student to 18 months imprisonment with a fine option of N4 million.

The judge, who said he did not believe the convict committed the offence out of necessity, declared that Victor would forfeit all items recovered from him to the Federal Government.

The Star