A Federal High Court and two Kwara State High Courts sitting in Ilorin, have convicted a self-styled gospel singer and eight others for offences bordering on cybercrime, conspiracy, and misappropriation of funds.
The convicts were charged to the courts by the Ilorin Zonal Directorate of the Economic and Financial Crimes Commission (EFCC).
The 31-year-old gospel artiste, Otitoju Esan, was sentenced to six months imprisonment without the option of a fine by Justice Abimbola Awogboro of the Federal High Court, Ilorin.
Otitoju, who claimed in his extra-judicial statement to be a popular gospel performer at weddings, naming ceremonies, and funerals in Lokoja, Kogi State, was found guilty of retaining the proceeds of unlawful activities amounting to over N8.4million in his bank account.
According to the charge, Esan, sometime between October 2024 and December 2025, retained the sum of N8,404,339 in his UBA bank account, “being proceeds of criminal conduct, thereby committing an offence contrary to and punishable under Section 17(a) and (b) of the EFCC Act, 2004.”
Otitoju was convicted alongside Ayodele Daisi, Adeoye Joseph, and Abubakar Abdulmalik, all arraigned by the Ilorin Zonal Directorate of the anti-graft agency on similar charges.
Ayodele, who was found to have retained N243,750 in his UBA account, was sentenced to eight months imprisonment without option of fine. His Techno 19 was also ordered forfeited to the federal government.
For his part, Adeoye was slammed with eight months imprisonment, also without an option of fine. He also forfeited the sum of $220, an iPhone 13, and a Techno Pop 9 phone to the federal government.
Abubakar was sentenced to six months imprisonment, with an order of forfeiture of his iPhone 16 and Samsung S10 to the federal government.
The EFCC was represented during the prosecution of the cases by Aliyu Adebayo, Sesan Ola, Rashidat Alao, and Mustapha Kaigama, who tendered statements, exhibits, and sums recovered as restitution, which were admitted in evidence by the courts.
Meanwhile, in a related development, Justices Haleema Saleeman and Sulaiman Akanbi of the Kwara State High Court convicted Emeka Achi, Isaac Oluwafemi, Afolabi Olatoye, Zubeiru Junior and Abdulkadir Taofeek on charges including cybercrime and misappropriation of fund.
Justice Akanbi sentenced Abdulkadir to three years imprisonment with an option of a N500,000 fine, and ordered the final forfeiture of N800,000, one iPhone 14 Pro Max, and a Samsung phone to the Federal Government.
Similarly, Justice Saleeman sentenced Emeka, Isaac, and Afolabi to six months imprisonment each, with the payment of N100,000 as fine.
Emeka was further ordered to refund N3.35million within three months, and to report every fortnight with his parents to the EFCC until full repayment is made.
