The Federal High Court sitting in Ibadan has sentenced two siblings, Amos Remilekun Ilesanmi and Olanrewaju Samuel Ilesanmi, alongside Ugbeh Emmanuel Ukali, to six months imprisonment for naira mutilation.
Dele Oyewale, Head of Media & Publicity for the EFCC, confirmed the ruling in a statement released on Monday sighted by Chronicle NG.
Justice Uche Agomoh delivered the judgment after the three were arraigned by the Ibadan Zonal Directorate of the Economic and Financial Crimes Commission (EFCC) on February 25, 2025, on a joint one-count charge.
The EFCC disclosed that the Ilesanmi brothers were ex-convicts, having been sentenced to three months of community service on October 2, 2024, for internet fraud and impersonation. Ukali, on the other hand, is currently facing prosecution for an internet fraud case before Justice Ladiran Akintola of the Oyo State High Court.
The charge against them reads, “That you Ilesanmi Amos Remilekun, Ilesanmi Olanrewaju Samuel, and Ugbeh Emmanuel Ukali on or about 6th June, 2024 within the jurisdiction of this Honourable Court sprayed the total sum of N391,400.00 (Three Hundred and Ninety-one Thousand, Four Hundred Naira) of N500 and N200 (Five Hundred and Two Hundred Naira Notes) denomination issued by the Central Bank of Nigeria and thereby committed an offence contrary to Section 21(4) of the Central Bank Act, 2007 and Punishable under Section 21(1) of the same Act.”
The accused persons pleaded guilty to the charge. Following this, the prosecution counsel, Abideen Muhammad Aliyu, presented EFCC operative Adegbite Adebayo as a witness and tendered incriminating documents and items in evidence. Aliyu then urged the court to convict and sentence the defendants as charged.
Defense counsel, Akinlabi Akinfala, pleaded with the court for leniency, arguing that the defendants were first-time offenders who had shown remorse.
Justice Agomoh, however, convicted and sentenced them to six months imprisonment each, without the option of a fine. The court also ordered that the N391,400 they sprayed be forfeited to the federal government.
Their ordeal began in June 2024 when they were arrested at a nightclub in Akure, Ondo State, for spraying and trampling on naira notes.
