The Kaduna State High Court has convicted and sentenced three individuals for engaging in fraudulent activities through Facebook and TikTok in Kaduna State, reinforcing ongoing efforts to curb cybercrime in Nigeria.
The convicts Aliyu Hassan, Samuel Olamide, and Solomon Joseph Christian were prosecuted on separate one-count charges bordering on criminal impersonation and obtaining by false pretence.
Their conviction was announced by the Economic and Financial Crimes Commission via its verified X (formerly Twitter) account on Tuesday.
According to the statement, the EFCC’s Kaduna Zonal Directorate secured the convictions before Justice A. Isiaka of the Kaduna State High Court.
The defendants all pleaded guilty to the charges brought against them, leading the prosecution counsel, M.U. Gadaka, to urge the court to convict and sentence them accordingly.
Details of the offences revealed that Hassan, who operated under the alias “Ottaviani Loverules Giovanni,” impersonated a Brazilian citizen on Facebook on February 9, 2026, and defrauded a victim identified as Kerry of N90,000.
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Similarly, Olamide, also known as “Johnny,” posed as a United States citizen on TikTok on the same date and defrauded an American victim, Jackie Sanders.
Christian, who used the alias “Jenort,” impersonated another individual on Facebook in February 2026 and obtained $150 from his victim.
Following their guilty pleas, Justice Isiaka sentenced each of the convicts to five years’ imprisonment, with an option of a N300,000 fine.
The court also ordered the forfeiture of all items recovered from the convicts to the Federal Government. Hassan forfeited N90,000 and a Samsung Galaxy Note 8 used in the crime, Olamide forfeited a Samsung Galaxy S21, while Christian forfeited an iPhone 14 Pro and $150, identified as proceeds of fraud.
The EFCC disclosed that the convicts were apprehended in the Agwa/Kudende area of Kaduna following credible intelligence linking them to fraudulent internet activities.
This development comes less than a year after the Kaduna State High Court recorded similar convictions involving five other individuals on charges related to criminal breach of trust, cheating, and impersonation, highlighting the judiciary’s continued crackdown on cyber-enabled crimes in the state.
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