A 25-year-old final-year student of a polytechnic, Olaitan Abdulwahab and three others were on Monday sentenced to various jail terms by Justice Mahmud Abdulgafar for various offences bordering on Internet fraud.

The four students were dragged to the court by the Economic and Financial Crimes Commission, Ilorin Zonal Directorate, on Monday, July 14, 2025, and secured the conviction of a final-year student and three others for offences bordering on Internet fraud.

A statement by the EFCC’s Head of Media and Publicity, Dele Oyewale, on Tuesday, listed Olaitan Abdulwahab Damilare, a 25-year-old Higher National Diploma student of Quantity Surveying in a prominent polytechnic in Kwara State, as being sentenced to six months imprisonment by Justice Mahmud Abdulgafar of the Kwara State High Court sitting in Ilorin.

“He was convicted alongside Maruf Quadri Kolawole, Habeeb Abiodun Jimoh, and Mubarak Moruf. While Olaitan, Maruf, and Habeeb were sentenced by Justice Abdulgafar, Mubarak’s conviction was handed down by Justice Sulaiman Akanbi of another division of the Kwara State High Court.

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The convicts were prosecuted on separate charges of cheating by personation and obtaining under false pretences, offences that violate Sections 321 and 324 of the Penal Code.

For instance, the charge against Olaitan reads:

“That you, OLAITAN ABDULWAHAB DAMILARE (a.k.a fav)., sometime in January, 2024 or thereabout at Ilorin, Kwara State within the jurisdiction of this Honourable Court dishonestly induced one Michael, a white man to send you gift cards worth the sum of $2,100 when you knowingly pretended and presented yourself to be Fav, a white lady who is in a romantic relationship with him and thereby committed an offence contrary to Section 321 and punishable under Section 324 of the Penal Code Laws of Northern Nigeria.”

Similarly, the charge against Maruf reads:

“That you, MARUF QUADRI KOLAWOLE, sometime in February 2025, in Ilorin, Kwara State, within the jurisdiction of this Honourable court, did cheat by personation when you pretended to be one Frank Matt via Facebook, and in that guise, induced Philip Solomon to send 950 Australian dollars to you, thereby committed an offence contrary to Section 321 of the Penal Code Law and punishable under Section 324 of the same Law.”

The defendants pleaded guilty to their respective charges.

“Upon their pleas, the prosecution counsel, Aliyu Adebayo and Mustapha Kaigama, reviewed the facts of the cases through witnesses who are operatives of the commission.

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They tendered the extrajudicial statements of the defendants, exhibits recovered from them at the point of arrest and various amounts of money, which they brought as restitution and were admitted in 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.

The judge passed six months’ imprisonment on Maruf 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 handed down one year imprisonment on Mubarak or a fine of N400,000 (Four Hundred Thousand Naira Only) and ordered the final forfeiture of his iphone 15 promax, iphone 7 and the sum of $300.

Operatives of the Special Anti-kidnapping and Cybercrime Squad of the Delta State Police Command have botched a kidnappers’ syndicate hibernating in Ogwashi-Ukwu forests in Oshimili North Local Government Area and arrested five suspects while N5m ransom was recovered from the gangsters.

According to The PUNCH, the Special Anti-kidnapping and Cybercrime Squad, led by CSP Godwin Osadolor, on July 12, 2025, at about 0630hrs, trailed suspected kidnappers terrorising Delta State to one of their hideouts at Ogwashi-Ukwu.

On arrival at the location, a suspected kidnapper named Sanusi Abdulahi was arrested in possession of ransom of N5m, which was part of the ransoms the gangsters collected from one of their victims.

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The Police Public Relations Officer in Delta State, Bright Edafe, in a signed statement in Warri on Tuesday, said, “A preliminary investigation revealed that the suspects were allegedly responsible for a series of kidnappings at Ibusa Ogwash-Ukwu, Obulu-Okiti, Isele-Ukwu, Isele-Asagba and most recently the kidnapping of a young lady at Ogwashi-Ukwu on July 9, 2025.

“The suspect led the operatives to their hideout at the second Deputy, and Oko in Asaba, where four other members of his gang were also arrested,” the PPRO affirmed, adding that the investigation is ongoing.

In another development, on July 9, 2025, at about 0835 hours, along the Patani-Ughelli Expressway, near the Unenurhei area, operatives of the CP-Special Assignment Team, in a sting operation, raided the hideouts of one Solomon Danisco aka ‘Picolo’, Nelson Jacob, Oruma Saturday, Olise Jude, Precious Urhobowin and Whisky Rufus, aka ‘Asawana’, a native of Ewu community.

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During the operations, the suspects, heavily armed, reportedly engaged the security operatives in a fierce gun duel during which the suspects and their gang members sustained serious gunshot injuries.

The police said they were taken to the hospital, where six of them were confirmed dead on arrival, while two others are still receiving treatment.

Exhibits recovered from the hoodlums included four locally-made guns and 19 rounds of live cartridges.

Meanwhile, the state police command has called for sustained support from members of the public, just as it released the Command’s dedicated control room phone numbers, which include 08036684974, 08114895600 and 08025666914, respectively.

The Enugu State Police Command has arrested two sisters for allegedly masterminding the kidnap of their brother, Mr. Friday Chukwu.

The two sisters, Juliet Chukwu and Ngozi Nancy Chukwu are younger sisters to the victim, Mr Chukwu, who hails from Amaeze village, Ishiagu community, in the Ivo Local Government Area of Ebonyi State.

The PUNCH reports that the two sisters are security agents.

While Juliet Chukwu is an operative of the Nigeria Security and Civil Defense Corps; Ngozi Nancy Chukwu is a personnel of Nigeria Immigration Service.

It was gathered that through the duo’s connivance, Mr Friday Chukwu was kidnapped, last month, on the Enugu-Port Harcourt Expressway near the University of Nigeria Teaching Hospital Ituku-Ozalla, in the Nkanu West Local Government Area, Enugu State.

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And through the sisters’ prodding and subtle moves, the sum of N30m was paid for their brother’s release.

It was further learnt that the two female security operatives orchestrated the abduction of the General Manager of China Oriental Mining Company, Engr. Dennis Igwe along the same area, on Monday.

Luck ran out of them when they were traced to a hidden hotel where they were to share the sum of N10million ransom paid for Igwe’s release, and they were arrested.

Commenting on the development on his Facebook Page, on Wednesday, a social media enthusiast, Comrade Chika Nwoba, called on security agencies to take the necessary steps to ensure the matter is not treated with levity.

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He said, “News broke in June, 2025 about the kidnap of one Mr. Friday Chukwu along Enugu-Port Harcourt expressway, an elder brother to Mrs. Juliet Chukwu who is a Civil Defence officer and Mrs. Ngozi Nancy Chukwu who is an Immigration Officer all from Amaeze, Ishiagu, Ivo LGA of Ebonyi State and it was alleged that the sum of N30 million was paid as ransom before the release of Mr. Friday Chukwu.

“Weeks later, on Monday 14/7/2025, the CLO of China Oriental Quarry Company, Engr. Igwe Denis Chibueze was kidnapped along the same route with a demand of N10 million.

“The stakeholders rallied the sum with a security link and they were trailed to a hotel room where they were sharing the proceeds of their criminal act.

“They have been previously alleged to have link to many criminal activities happening around Ishiagu in Ebonyi State, ranging from conniving with Fulani herders to stage kidnap along Ishiagu road, looting of railway rails and properties and vandalization of pipeline among other heinous crimes.

“The source through which they escape in many of their crimes is still unknown, but the recent case shouldn’t be treated like other of their crimes and the Nigerian Civil Defence Corp and Immigration Service should meet the case with the punishment it deserves.”

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The Chairman of Ivo Local Government Area, Ebony State, Chief Emmanuel Ajah, confirmed the arrest of the two sisters, adding although the two incident took place outside his jurisdiction, he had written to both the Enugu Police Command and the Ebonyi Command of the Nigeria Security and Civil Defense Corps.

He said, “Yes. We are aware of the incidents; but it didn’t happen in my local government area. The incidents took place in Enugu State. The sisters to Mr Friday Chukwu, who is my friend have been arrested. The said they are six, so four people are still on the run. I have written to both the Enugu Police Command and the Ebonyi Command of the Nigeria Security and Civil Defense Corps. However, our efforts are always geared towards making sure our local and the people are safe.”

Efforts to get the Ebonyi State Police Command for comments on the matter proved abortive.

The Police Police Relations Officer, SP Joshua Ukandu, didn’t respond to our Correspondent’s inquiries as of the time of filing this report, on Wednesday.