26th March, 2019
By Gbenro Adesina/Ibadan
Justice Ibrahim Watilat of the Federal High Court, Abeokuta Judicial Division on Tuesday sentenced an internet fraudster, Soyombo Omogbolahan Ridwan to four month imprisonment.
Soyombo, a final year student of Computer Science, who was supposed to be mobilised for the mandatory one-year National Youth Service Corps programme was earlier arrested and arraigned before the court in a one-count amended charge by the Ibadan Zonal office of Economic and Financial Crimes Commission, EFCC.
The charge that earned him the jail term reads: “That you Soyombo Omogbolahan Ridwan (aka Andrea Norde) sometimes in 2019, at Awa-Ijebu within the jurisdiction of this Honourable court knowingly sent pornographic and indecent pictures with Google Hang Out Account with email address [email protected] through a computer system and network to one James R. Dunford and thereby committed an offense contrary to Section 24 (1)(a) of the Cyber Crimes (Prohibition, Prevention Etc) Act, 2015 and punishable under Section 24(1) of same Act”
Prosecution counsel, Mabas Mabur, had urged the court to convict him accordingly since he admitted committing the offense and pleaded guilty.
While delivering his judgment, the judge said the four months jail term takes effect from February 13, 2019 when he was arrested. The court also ordered that, through the Federal Republic of Nigeria, Soyombo should forfeit and restitute a sum of USD $700 to James R. Dunford and Cara Melton, his victims.
He will also forfeit his Apple Macbook Air Laptop, One Iphone X Mobile Phone and One WiFi Router to the Nigerian government. The items, believed to be proceeds of his crime, were recovered from him during his arrest.