Justice Abimbola Awogboro of the Federal High Court in Lagos has ordered an internet fraudster, also known as Yahoo Boy, Nkanu Anari, to perform 250 hours of community service for impersonation.
Justice Awogboro imposed the sentence on the convict after he pleaded guilty to a one-count charge of impersonation brought against him by the Economic and Financial Crimes Commission (EFCC).
The EFCC prosecutor, Zeenat Atiku, had earlier informed the judge that the 25-year-old convict was arrested on August 20, 2023, in Lagos.
Atiku also claimed that during the convict’s arrest, the anti-graft agency discovered that he had impersonated one Stephen Townsend, the name he used in defrauding his victims of $10,000.
The prosecutor further told the court that during the investigation, the convict confessed to benefitting from the said sum.
Based on his guilty plea, the prosecutor, through a witness, reviewed the facts of the case, as well as tendered the convict’s confessional statements.
The lawyer also tendered a laptop, an iPhone, a bundle of documents retrieved from the computer and a United Bank of Africa (UBA) manager’s cheque with the monetary value of N200,000.
After the review of the facts, the court admitted all the exhibits and convicted Anari as charged.
After that, the convict pleaded for mercy, urging the court to forgive him as he had learned his lesson while in custody, he also begged for forgiveness from God and his parents.
In her judgment, Justice Awogboro considered some mitigating factors presented by the case, which she said were in favour of the convict, and sentenced him to 250 hours of community service.
The judge also ordered that the laptop, iPhone, and a United Bank of Africa (UBA) manager’s cheque with the monetary value of N200,000 tendered as exhibits be forfeited to the Federal Government of Nigeria.
