By Deborah Nnamdi
A final-year student of the University of Port Harcourt (UNIPORT), Henry Nathaniel Ekanem has been sentenced to 14 years imprisonment for internet fraud.
The Economic and Financial Crime Commission, EFCC, disclosed this via their official X handle (@officialEFCC) on Wednesday.
The Port Harcourt Zonal Directorate of the EFCC arraigned Ekanem on seven count charges bordering on obtaining money under pretence and impersonation, an offence contrary to Section 1(1) (a) and punishable under Section 1(3) of the Advance Fee Fraud and other Fraud-Related Offences Act 2006 among others.
Ekanem reportedly defrauded one Diana Roskov of 22 US Dollars ($22), among others, while fraudulently presenting himself as Coran Capshaw, manager of the singer Chris Stapleton, through WhatsApp and Instagram chats.
The anti-graft agency arrested Ekanem sometime in September 2024 at Choba, Port Harcourt. Ekanem pleaded guilty when the charge was read to him.
Given his plea, prosecution counsel, A. Abubakar, called witnesses and tendered some documents as evidence, which were admitted by the court and marked as exhibits. He thereafter prayed the court to convict and sentence the defendant accordingly.
Counsel to the defendant, F. T. Fred-Boufini did not oppose the prayers by the prosecution. She rather prayed the court to temper justice with mercy, stressing that the defendant was a first-time offender with no previous criminal records.
Justice A. T. Mohammed of the Federal High Court, sitting in Port Harcourt, Rivers State, convicted and sentenced the defendant to two years imprisonment on each of the seven -counts or an option of a fine of Two Hundred Thousand Naira (N200,000) payable into the Consolidated Revenue Account of the Federal Government of Nigeria.
The judge also ordered that all the phones recovered from the convict be forfeited to the government, being proceeds of crime.
The convict shall also depose an affidavit of good behaviour before the court.
