An 18-year-old, Gregory Aiyanyor, was on Wednesday convicted and sentenced to two years in prison for involving himself in internet fraud by Justice Yusuf Halilu of the High Court of the Federal Capital Territory (FCT), sitting at Maitama, Abuja, without an option of a fine.
The teenager’s conviction and sentencing, according to the judge, were to enable him to stay at the Kuje Correctional Centre, where the court ordered that he serve his term, to learn a trade and recollect himself.
The convicted teenager had pleaded guilty to the one-count charge preferred against him by the Economic and Financial Crimes Commission (EFCC) when read to him in court.
The anti-graft agency told the court that Aiyanyor had on February 15 in Abuja induced five US nationals to deliver to him a sum of $5,000 through an application called bitcoin.com and, thereby, committed an offence contrary to the provision of Section 320(b) of the Penal Code and punishable under Section 322 of the same Act.
In his allocutus, the convict’s lawyer, A. Akpofure, pleaded with the court to temper justice with mercy and be lenient with the convict being a first-time offender.
He further prayed for the court to consider his client’s age and the fact that the convict does not have any previous criminal records.
Akpofure informed the court that the iPhone with which the convict committed the crime and N1 million in proceeds from it had been given to the EFCC.
This was confirmed to be true by the prosecuting counsel, S. N. Robert.
While sentencing the teenager, Justice Halilu lamented the attitude of youths resorting to crimes to make easy money, adding that this is becoming incessant in society.
According to him, this was contrary to the culture and morals of Africans as a people, and he asserted that this called for serious concerns.
“The attitude of our youths calls for a very serious concern. They just sit in the confines of their convenient living rooms to be able to lure members of the public to part with their money.
“This is not a very good way of life; we, as Africans, are known to be cultured people and very high in morals.
“I disagree that times would have so changed that our children, brothers, and even sisters get themselves involved in easy money-making ventures,” Justice Halilu said.
He, therefore, sentenced the teenager to two years of imprisonment without any option of a fine and ordered the forfeiture of the iPhone used to commit the crime and the money obtained as proceeds to the Federal Government.
“In all that played out, I am minded to sentence the convict to a custodian centre so that he can stay there to learn a trade and recollect himself.
“I will sentence you to two years in prison without the option of a fine, and you shall serve this at Kuje Correctional Facility.
“The iPhone was used to perpetuate the crime, and the said amount of money is hereby forfeited to the Federal Government,” the judge held.
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