Yesterday, Justice Rahman Oshodi from the Ikeja Special Offences Court sentenced Emmanuel Victor, a 100-level university part-time student of computer science, to 18 months imprisonment for engaging in an online dating scam.

The convict was however given an option of fine in the sum of N4 million

Victor, 23, had benefitted  $7,000 from an online dating scam before his arrest.

The convict pleaded guilty to an amended one-count charge brought against him by the Economic and Financial Crimes Commission (EFCC).

Prosecuting counsel, Abubakar Dambua, who reviewed the fact of  the case, told the court that on September 15, last year, the agency received an intelligence report about the fraudulent activities of the convict and others.

He said a raid was carried out and the convict was arrested, adding that an iPhone 13, a Samsung phone, ATM card, Managers cheque and fraudulent documents, among others.

Dambua thereafter sought to tender all items recovered from the convict as evidence before the court.

The defence counsel, E. A. Ukpai, did not object to the admissibility of items recovered from the convict.

Asked by the trial judge how he did the scam, Victor told the court that he created a false account in the name of ‘Agent Fred Smith’ on Facebook Book.

“I then asked the unsuspecting victims to apply for Social Economic Grant Programme and I asked them to pay processing and delivery fees,” he explained.

Victor told the court that he used the $7,000 benefit from the scam to resettle his family.

“We used to stay in a plank house and l used the money to provide better accommodation and pay for my school fees,” he said.

He expressed remorse over his fraudulent actions and promised that he would not go back to the crime if given another opportunity.