Court jails undergraduate over lottery scam in Kwara

Kwara State High Court sitting in Ilorin on Wednesday convicted a 300 Level student of the University of Ilorin, Udoh Sunday Okon, over offences bordering on Facebook lottery scam.

In a statement by the head, Media and Publicity of the Economic and Financial Crimes Commission (EFCC), Wilson Uwujaren, Udoh was said to have defrauded an America national, Kimberly, to the tune of $500 via Facebook lottery.

“The 20-year-old Akwa Ibom indigene was prosecuted on one-count charge by the anti-graft agency, to which he pleaded guilty.

The charge reads: 

“That you, Udoh Sunday Okon (Christopher Wray) sometime in March 2021 at Ilorin, within the jurisdiction of this Honourable Court did cheat by personation when you pretended to be one Christopher Wray a white male with +18315088635 as your WhatsApp business line and fraudulently deceived Kimberly an American to send $500.00 worth of Ebay gift card to you after you made him believe that he won $1,000,000.00 (One Million Dollars) Facebook Lottery and you thereby committed an offence contrary to Section 321 of the Penal Code and punishable under Section 324 of the Penal Code.”

Following his plea, Sesan Ola, counsel to the EFCC, urged the court to convict the defendant and sentence him based on his plea and the evidenced tendered before the court.

The trial judge, Justice Sikiru Oyinloye of the Kwara State High Court sitting in Ilorin pronounced the defendant guilty of the offence and sentenced him to a term of one year imprisonment.

“I have carefully considered the facts and circumstances of this case, especially the lone count charge, the plea of guilt, the unchallenged evidence of the prosecution and the defence who accepted all the evidence of the prosecution. It is the opinion of this honourable court that the defendant is guilty as charged.”

The judge, however, gave the convict an option of fine of N200,000.

In addition, the court ordered the forfeiture of N206,000 draft raised as restitution by the convict and the iPhone which he used in perpetrating the crime to the Federal Government.

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