Romance Scam: Court sentences Unilorin undergraduate to 3 months community service

Akinsanya Ridwan, a 400-level undergraduate of the University of Ilorin has been convicted and sentenced to three months of community service for committing a romance scam 

According to a   Kwara State High Court sitting in Ilorin, the service requires him to clear the drainage at Bekind filling station near the Tipper Garage at Tanke area, up to the gate of the University of Ilorin commencing from September 2.

Justice Sikiru Oyinloye handed down the judgement on Monday, Dele Oyewale, who is the Head of Media and Publicity at the Economic and Financial Crimes Commission (EFCC), disclosed in a statement.

The statement revealed that Ridwan was sentenced following his arraignment by the Ilorin EFCC zonal office on a count bordering on internet fraud and other fraud-related offences.

“That you, Akinsanya Ridwan (a.k.a Alex James) sometime in March 2020 or thereabout at Ilorin, Kwara State within the jurisdiction of this Honorable Court attempted to commit an offence of cheating by impersonation by pretending and representing yourself to be a white man called Alex James to an unsuspected white woman, Stewart Sonia, on a dating site called ‘Hangout’, as it is contained in your Gmail account: alexjames789123@gmail.com and thereby committed an offence contrary to and punishable under Section 95 of the Penal Code Laws of Northern Nigeria.” , the charge read.

When the charge was read to him in court, the defendant pleaded guilty to the count.

While reviewing the facts of the case, an Assistant Detective Superintendent with the EFCC, Mahmoud Hamman, told the court that the defendant was arrested on March 16 based on intelligence.

“A search was conducted in his house and one Galaxy phone and laptop were recovered. We analysed them and discovered an email box where several fraudulent messages were printed in his presence,” the EFCC officer told the judge.

Delivering judgment on the matter, Justice Oyinloye convicted and sentenced the defendant based on exhibits tendered and the proof of evidence brought before the court.

He ordered the convict to get a notice of clearance from the Registrar of the University of Ilorin and the Kwara State Command of the Nigerian Correctional Service.

The judge warned that a failure to do so would attract Ridwan six months imprisonment.

He also ordered the convict to pay a fine of N50,000, in addition to the community service.