The Federal High Court sitting in Ilorin on Thursday sentenced three persons charged for offences bordering on cybercrime.
The Ilorin Zonal Command of the Economic and Financial Crimes Commission (EFCC) secured the conviction.
The convicts are Umar Olanrewaju also known as “Sugar Baby,” Hassan Olaitan, auto repairer, and one Tope Ayodele.
The presiding Judge, Justice Muhammed Sani, agreed with the submission of the prosecuting counsels that the commission had established a prima facie case against the defendants.
The court, thereafter, pronounced them guilty and sentenced Olanrewaju and Olaitain to six months imprisonment with option of fine of N100,000 each.
He also ordered the convicts to forfeit their iPhone 7 which they used to perpetrate their various crimes and the sum of money benefited from the act to the Federal Government.
The defendants pleaded guilty to their respective charges.
Following their guilty pleas, Sesan Ola and Andrew Akoja, who prosecuted the cases on behalf of the EFCC, reviewed the facts of the cases.
In a related development, Justice Mahmud AbdulGafar of the State High Court, also sentenced Tope Ayodele to three months imprisonment for offences bordering on cybercrime.
The three months should be observed at the custody of the Nigeria Correctional Centre, which should be suspended.
The judge ordered that one itel phone which the convict used to perpetrate the crime be forfeited to the Federal Government. (NAN)
![Rev. Fr. Anthony Odiong, a US-based Nigerian Louisiana Catholic priest, was arrested in Florida on Tuesday for possessing child pornography, according to law authorities. The suspect is reportedly accused of many other cases of sexual assault. The Waco, Texas, Police Department announced in a Facebook post on Tuesday that officers detained Father Anthony Odiong in Ave Maria, Florida, with assistance from the United States Marshals Service. Waco police announced in March that they had received "credible information" about a sexual assault allegedly committed by Odiong in Texas in 2012. “During the subsequent investigation, a case of possession of child pornography was uncovered,” the police said. The priest was apprehended in Florida by the Caribbean Regional Fugitive Task Force. The Waco Police Department said that he will be extradited to Texas. Odiong had previously served in the Archdiocese of New Orleans before being removed as priest in December of last year due to controversy over homilies in which he claimed, among other things, that the Catholic Church was being taken over by "the gays." At the time, the priest was also accused of abusive behaviour; a Louisiana lady claimed in U.S. bankruptcy court that Odiong had committed both financial and sexual abuse against her. Prior to joining the New Orleans Archdiocese, Odiong served in at least two Texas parishes. On Tuesday, Waco police stated that during their sexual assault investigation, "the presence of other survivors was revealed." “Multiple women have come forward to tell similar experiences as the sexual assault survivor who reported the initial allegation,” the police department said. “Survivors’ experiences ranged from sexual assault and indecent assault, more commonly recognised as groping, and financial abuse, with some survivors experiencing every element of Anthony Odiong’s manipulation.” The police said they “believe there may be more survivors, and we wish to speak with anyone who [has] had similar encounters” with the priest. The Archdiocese of New Orleans issued a brief news release on Tuesday noting Odiong's arrest in Florida. The archdiocese “encourages anyone with any information to contact law enforcement,” the release said.](https://chronicle.ng/wp-content/uploads/2024/08/ezgif-6-4730550ede-450x300.jpg "Is Anthony Odiong still a priest after life in prison sentence over rape?")