Ayinde Kareem/

Six Internet fraudsters facing prosecution in Lagos have been convicted.

The conviction of Osibajo Oluwamuyiwa, Jimoh Damilola Qudus and Salaudeen Ismail was secured by the Economic and Financial Crimes Commission (EFCC), Lagos Zonal office on March 23, 2020. They were tried for offences bordering on internet fraud.

They were arraigned before Justice Oluwatoyin Taiwo of the Special Offences Court in Ikeja, Lagos. Osibajo and Salaudeen were arraigned on a separate three-count charge, while Jimoh was arraigned on a separate one-count charge all for being in “possession of fraudulent documents”.

One of the charges reads: “That you, Osibajo David Oluwamuyiwa (aka Michael Morris) on or about 11th day of February 2020 in Lagos within the Ikeja Judicial Division of this Honourable Court with intent to defraud had in your possession a document with email address msharley059@gmail.com wherein you represented yourself as a female with name as Michael Morris and sent messages online to unsuspecting persons desirous of having a female friend, which documents you knew or ought to have known having regard to the circumstances of the case, contains false pretence.”

They pleaded “guilty” to the charges preferred against them by the EFCC.

Upon their plea, counsel for the EFCC, Ahmed Yerima reviewed the facts of the cases.

Yerima told the court that the convicts were arrested following an intelligence report about their fraudulent activities.

He told the court to convict and sentence the defendants as charged by the EFCC.

Justice Taiwo, convicted as charged and sentenced them to six months imprisonment each.

She, however, gave an “option of fine” of N300,000 each to Osibajo and Salaudeen, while N100,000 fine was given to Qudus.

In a related development, Justice Sherifat Solebo of the Special Offences Court sitting in Ikeja, Lagos also convicted three internet fraudsters: Olalekan Yusuf Oyebanji, Tabiti Emmanuel and David Emmanuel.

Two of the convicts were arraigned separately on a two-count charge, while David was arraigned separately on a one-count charge.

The charge against David reads: “That you, David Emmanuel on or about the 8th day of March 2020, in Lagos within the jurisdiction of this Honourable Court with intent to defraud had in your possession document titled “Google Account” which representations you knew or ought to have known to be false.”

A charge against Tabiti reads: “That you, Tabiti Bolarinwa Emmanuel on or about the 8th day of March 2020 in Lagos within the jurisdiction of this Honourable Court with intent to defraud had in your possession document titled “Gmail-fwd; Lotto format from start boy” which representations you knew or ought to have known to be false.”

They pleaded “guilty” to the charges preferred against them.

Upon the plea, counsels for the EFCC, Abbas Mohammad and Samuel Daji urged the court to allow them to review the facts of the case.

However, Justice Solebo adjourned David’s matter until  May 19, 2020, for review of facts of the case, while Olalekan’s matter was adjourned until May 20, 2020, for review of facts. Also, Tabiti’s matter was adjourned until May 18, 2020, for review of facts of the case.

They will be sentenced at a later date.