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Court Remands 13 Chinese Nationals Over Cybercrime, Security Breach

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A Federal High Court in Lagos has remanded 13 Chinese nationals and a company, Genting International Co. Limited, on charges of alleged impersonation, fraud, and attempts to destabilise Nigeria’s constitutional structure.

Justice Denide Dipeolu issued the remand order on Friday after the defendants pleaded not guilty to the charges brought against them by the Economic and Financial Crimes Commission.

The defendants, who were arraigned before the court, include Wang Zheng Ming, Li Yin Hui, Xiao Hong Will, Wang Jia Qi (a.k.a. Xiao Tian), Long Shao Ming (a.k.a. You), and Zhang Xiao Lei.

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Others are Liu San Hua, Chen Wenyuan (a.k.a. Lee05mx20), Yang Sheng (Madison), Rheeigh De La Vega (a.k.a. Rheignalyn), and Guo Xiao Fei.

They were among the suspects arrested on 10 December 2024 at their hideout on No. 7 Oyin Jolayemi Street, Victoria Island, Lagos.

The EFCC acted on credible intelligence linking them to cybercrime and fraudulent activities.

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READ ALSO: Man Jailed 21 Years For Stealing Ondo Church’s Items

The EFCC’s legal team, led by Director of Legal Aso Peters, filed charges against the defendants under Sections 18 and 27 of the Cybercrimes (Prohibition, Prevention, Etc.) Act, 2015 (as amended in 2024).

After the charges were read to the defendants individually, they all pleaded not guilty, except for Wang Zheng Ming, who rejected the EFCC-appointed lawyer and requested time to hire his own legal representation.

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Following their pleas, Justice Dipeolu scheduled trial dates for 3, 14, and 21 February 2025.

He ordered the defendants to be held at correctional facilities pending trial.

The two female defendants were remanded at Kirikiri Female Correctional Centre, while the others were taken to Ikoyi Correctional Centre.

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One specific defendant, Liu San Hua, was accused of facilitating identity theft by hiring Nigerian youths to impersonate foreign nationals to gain financial advantage.

READ ALSO: Bauchi CP, Commissioner Risk Jail Term Over Abduction Allegations

This act is said to have violated Section 18 of the Cybercrimes (Prohibition, Prevention, Etc.) Act, 2015.

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Several of the charges include allegations of using fake identities online to defraud victims, training employees of Genting International Co. Limited in fraudulent practices, and other offences under the Advance Fee Fraud and Other Related Offences Act, 2006.

According to the EFCC, the charges highlight serious offences aimed at undermining Nigeria’s security and financial integrity through cybercrime and fraudulent activities.

Liu San Hua and Genting International Co. Limited allegedly facilitated identity theft by employing Nigerian youths to pose as foreign nationals, violating Section 18 of the Cybercrimes Act.

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Zhang Xiao Lei and Genting International Co. Limited were accused of using computer systems to commit cybercrimes aimed at destabilising Nigeria’s constitutional structure.

READ ALSO: Nigerians Recruited As UK Prison Officers Sleep In Cars, Camp Near Jails

The EFCC stated that sometime in December 2024, Wang Zheng Feng (also known as A. Feng) allegedly accessed computer systems to harm Nigeria’s economy and social structure. He was said to have employed Nigerian youths for identity theft, presenting them as foreign nationals to gain financial advantage—an offence that violated both the Cybercrimes

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Act and the Terrorism (Prevention and Prohibition) Act, 2022.

Luo Jia You (also known as You) was charged with providing false information to EFCC investigators, misleading them about his identity to conceal his involvement in a syndicate specialising in romance scams, cryptocurrency fraud, and cyber terrorism.

In an attempt to mislead investigators, Luo Jia You allegedly misrepresented his name as A. You—an offence contrary to Section 39(2) of the EFCC (Establishment) Act, 2004, and punishable under Section 39(2)(b) of the same Act.

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The Commission told the court that sometime in December 2024, Guo Xiao Fei, with intent to gain financial advantage for his employer, fraudulently impersonated a French national named Alani by presenting himself as such to one Mr Montalito.

READ ALSO: Two Robbers Bag Five-year Jail Term

The offence contravened Section 22(2)(b) of the Cybercrimes (Prohibition, Prevention, Etc.) Act, 2015.

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He was also accused of being in possession of documents used for false pretences, including romance scam formats and chat records where he falsely presented himself as a United States citizen.

This offence contravened Sections 6, 8(b), and 1(3) of the Advance Fee Fraud and Other Fraud Related Offences Act, 2006.

The EFCC stated that the defendants’ activities posed serious threats to Nigeria’s security and financial integrity.

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After their arraignment, the court adjourned the case till 3 February 2025 for trial.
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I Met My Ex-girlfriend Naked, Chanting At My Gate —Man

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I was praying – Woman

A banker narrated how he found a woman, who claims to be his ex-girlfriend and a prayer warrior, at the gate of his house around 01:00 hours naked and bathing in what is believed to have been charms.

According to Zambia Observer, the banker, Burton Musonda, and his teacher-wife, Hoper Chinyimba, 33, of Obama Chelston, are charged with assault occasioning actual bodily harm.

Burton said he found Mainess Muumba naked outside his house barely a month after he obtained a court order restraining her from being close to him or his family.

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“When asked what she was dong at the premises when there was an active restraining order against her, she said that they have bad luck in her family and cannot get married and that was the reason she was bathing in those bath salts, “he said.

Burton and his wife, who have pleaded not guilty, allegedly assaulted Ms Mumba last year.

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The couple were recently found with a case to answer and placed on defense.

In his defense, Burton narrated that Ms Mumba was his neighbor whom he firstly met at a home shop within Obama where he was having some beverages with colleagues.

He said the same day he met he, she sent him a message around 19:30 hours, but he was surprised that it was not business-related.

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Burton testified that Ms Mumba and her relatives harassed his wife, a development which prompted him to get a restraining order against the complainant.

READ ALSO:I Ran From Home After My Wife Threatened To Pour Acid On Me —Husband

As trial continued, the banker narrated that on March 20, last year, he was sleeping in his house when he heard noise outside his gate around 01:00 hours.

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I phoned my neighbour, Kennedy Lusale, who has dogs, and asked him to check what was happening outside.

“Kennedy later phoned me back and asked me to go outside”, Burton said.

I found two gentlemen and a lady kneeling down without clothes.

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READ ALSO:My Wife Pursued Me With Knife, Smashed Room Door In Search Of Me —Husband

“The unidentified gentleman said, “This lady has been chanting over your name. They said she was saying, “Mr Burton Musonda is my husband.”

Burton said his neighbours startedgathering outside his gate when they heard two gentlemen shouting Ms Mumba is a witch and attempted hitting her.

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“Kennedy whisked Mainess into our yard, “ he stated.

Burton said at this point, his wife came out of the house and immediately asked Ms Mumbas to dress up before interrogating her.

“Mainess told my wife, “I will never go out with your husband and what I was just my own personal prayers, “he said.

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The case was adjourned.

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Soldier Sentenced To Death For Murder, Armed Robbery In Akwa Ibom

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Akwa Ibom State High Court sitting in Uyo has sentenced a dismissed soldier with the Nigerian Army, 6 Battalion, Ibagwa in Abak, Corporal Stephen Iweh, to death by hanging for the murder of a 42-year-old man, Christopher Enobong Jimmy.

The incident occurred on 23rd May, 2021, along the East-West Road in Ikot Abasi Local Government Area.

The late Jimmy, who was the Manager of a Clearing and Forwarding Company in Port Harcourt, had offered Corporal Iweh a lift in his car from Trailer Park in Onne, Rivers State, to Ikot Abasi in Akwa Ibom.

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Along the way, at Oboro Junction in Ikot Abasi, the 39 year-old soldier shot him dead before fleeing with the vehicle and valuables.

READ ALSO:Man Dies Of Gunshot Inside Akwa Ibom Church, Police Begin Probe

Investigations revealed that Corporal Iweh, a father of three children, had illegally kept the AK-47 rifle which he said he “picked at Dambou, Borno State in 2018 and decided to keep it as personal arms”.

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On the day of the killing, Corporal Iweh, was supposed to be on duty at the Army Store, 6 Battalion, Ibagwa, Abak, but abandoned his post to commit the crime.

He was later traced to Andy Guest House in Ukanafun, many kilometers from the scene of crime, where he was arrested and the rifle recovered.

In a judgment, the trial judge, Hon. Justice Bassey Nkanang held that the prosecution proved beyond reasonable doubt that Corporal Iweh, a native of Ameke Nkor in Ngor Okpala Local Government Area of Imo State, murdered Christopher Enobong Jimmy, an indigene of Ikot Abasi, robbed him of his Toyota Matrix car, while armed with an AK-47 rifle and unlawfully possessed the firearm without a license.

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READ ALSO:Akwa Ibom: Police Raid Shrine, Arrest Suspected Rapists, Recover Two Coffins, Sanitary Pads, Pictures

The late Jimmy, Manager of a Clearing and Forwarding Company in Port Harcourt, was travelling home in his grey Toyota Matrix, when he gave the soldier, who was in full military uniform, a lift, at the Trailer Park in Onne enroute Akwa Ibom State.

The soldier later shot Jimmy at a junction in Oboro, Ikot Abasi, where they had stopped to urinate and eat Pork meat, before fleeing with the vehicle and other belongings.

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Justice Nkanang convicted him on a three-count charge. He was sentenced to death by hanging for murder, death by hanging for armed robbery, and 10 years imprisonment for unlawful possession of firearms.

In his plea for mercy, the convict begged the court for what he described as a “soft landing,” but his allocutus was rejected.

The late Christopher Jimmy is survived by his 34-year-old widow, Arit, who tearfully recounted that her husband had left Port Harcourt to visit his sister and family in Ikot Abasi, but did not return home.

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Six Arrested For Alleged Killing Of Police Constable In Bayelsa

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Bayelsa State Police Command says it has arrested six suspected cultists for allegedly killing a police constable, Oboh Goodluck in the state.
‎The Commissioner of Police, CP Francis Idu, made this known at the funeral rites for the deceased on Friday in Yenagoa.

Goodluck was reportedly killed in OMPADEC area of Amarata community on his way to work by a cult group on August 19.

‎Idu said other key suspects identified to have been involved in the murder would soon be apprehended.

‎He warned attackers of police personnel to desist from it to avoid the wrath of the law.

READ ALSO:Bayelsa Education Ministry Denies Alleged Deductions From Contractors’ Payments

‎Idu assured the family of the deceased that his attackers would face justice. He also assured the rank and file that the top echelon of the Nigeria Police Force would always defend them.

‎The CP announced that a formal request would be sent to the Governor Douye Diri of Bayelsa to make the site, where Goodluck was killed, a monument site to be remembered.

‎The representative of the Ayadei/Oboh family, Comrade Kwokwo Robert, while appreciating the Police authorities for the assistance in the final burial rites, called for justice for the late policeman.

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