Court sentences two internet fraudsters

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Justice Rilwan Aikawa of the Federal High Court in Kaduna has handed prison sentences to two individuals, Samuel Ezekiel Godfrey and Yahaya Mustapha, who were convicted of internet-related fraud. Godfrey received a two-year sentence, while Mustapha was given five years. Both, however, were granted the option of paying fines instead of serving jail time.

Godfrey, who operated under the false name Dixon Kelvin, was given the choice of a N500,000 fine in lieu of his sentence. Mustapha, meanwhile, faced a longer prison term of five years, which could be replaced by a N300,000 fine.

Each suspect was prosecuted on a separate one-count charge by the Kaduna Zonal Office of the Economic and Financial Crimes Commission (EFCC), all tied to offenses involving false identity, internet fraud, and financial crimes.

Godfrey was convicted for using a fake profile on Facebook to scam N191,580 from a victim in Bida, Niger State. His act was in breach of Section 22(2)(b)(i) of the Cybercrimes (Prohibition, Prevention, etc.) Act of 2015.

Mustapha, posing as “Mike Benjamin,” pretended to be a U.S. citizen and tricked victims into giving him $100 through Facebook in April 2025. This also violated the same legal provision.

Both individuals entered guilty pleas during their respective hearings. While the prosecution, led by M.U. Gadaka, pressed for convictions, their defense attorneys asked the court to consider their clients’ expression of remorse when passing judgment.

As part of the ruling, Justice Aikawa also directed Godfrey to hand over the N191,580 he unlawfully obtained, along with the iPhone used during the scam, to the Federal Government. Similarly, Mustapha was ordered to surrender his iPhone 14 Pro and repay the $100 to his victim.

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The EFCC apprehended the two in Bida Local Government Area after acting on solid intelligence about their online scam activities.

The commission continues to caution citizens about the dangers of cybercrime and advises the public to remain alert when conducting transactions online.

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