A Kaduna State High Court has handed down five-year prison sentences to a trio of men involved in individual internet fraud operations.
Presiding over the case in Kaduna, Justice A. Isiaka delivered the judgment against Aliyu Hassan, Samuel Olamide, and Solomon Joseph Christian. The three were found guilty of posing as other people to trick victims out of their money. According to a report from the Economic and Financial Crimes Commission (EFCC), the agency’s Kaduna Zonal Directorate hauled the men before the court following their arrest in the Agwa and Kudende neighborhoods, where investigators had tracked their trail of digital scams.
The court proceedings detailed how the group utilized different social media apps to hunt for targets, with each man facing a specific count related to his own scheme.
The official charge against Hassan noted: “That you, Aliyu Hassan (a.k.a. Ottaviani Loverules Giovanni), on or about the 9th of February, 2026, in Kaduna, within the jurisdiction of the Honourable Court, impersonated one Ottaviani Loverules Giovanni (a citizen of Brazil) via the Facebook platform and, in such assumed character, you defrauded one Kerry of the sum of N90,000.00 (Ninety Thousand Naira only), and you thereby committed an offence contrary to Section 142(1) of the Kaduna State Penal Code Law, 2017, and punishable under the same law.”
In a similar vein, Olamide’s charge read: “That you, Samuel Olamide (a.k.a. Johnny), on or about the 9th of February, 2026, in Kaduna, within the jurisdiction of the Honourable Court, impersonated one Johnny (a citizen of the United States of America) via the TikTok platform and, in such assumed character, you defrauded one Jackie Sanders (an American), and you thereby committed an offence contrary to Section 142(1) of the Kaduna State Penal Code Law, 2017, and punishable under the same law.”
Christian was presented with a charge stating: “That you, Solomon Joseph Christian (a.k.a. Jenort), sometime in February 2026, in Kaduna, within the jurisdiction of this Honourable Court, impersonated one Jenort via Facebook (a social media platform) and, in that assumed character, benefited the sum of $150, and you thereby committed an offence contrary to Section 142(1) of the Kaduna State Penal Code Law, 2017, and punishable under the same law.”
Once the charges were laid out, all three defendants pleaded guilty, confessing to their parts in the fraudulent activities. With those admissions on record, the EFCC’s lead prosecutor, M.U. Gadaka, moved for the court to finalize their convictions and hand down appropriate penalties.
Justice Isiaka sentenced the men to five years behind bars, though he provided an alternative option to pay a fine of N300,000 each.
Furthermore, the judge mandated the forfeiture of all assets and cash tied to the illegal activities. Hassan gave up N90,000 and a Samsung Galaxy Note 8 mobile phone (IMEI No. SM-N9500), which were flagged as criminal proceeds. Olamide was stripped of a Samsung Galaxy S21 mobile phone (IMEI No. 35198153052814) used to facilitate his crimes, while Christian lost an iPhone 14 Pro (IMEI No. 35771267218661) and $150 in ill-gotten gains. Every item was signed over to the federal government.