5 Sentenced to Jail for Cyber-Stalking and Fraud Involving Ex-Speaker

From Our Correspondent

A Federal High Court sitting in Osun State, under the jurisdiction of Justice Nathaniel Ayo-Emmanuel, has sentenced five individuals to prison for their involvement in cyber-stalking and defrauding the former Speaker of the Osun State House of Assembly, Timothy Owoeye, of a substantial sum totaling N38 million.

The case dates back to 2018 when a 13-second naked video of Timothy Owoeye gained notoriety by circulating widely on the internet.

The video depicted Owoeye being confronted by several individuals who accused him of attempting to perform a ritual in their community.

Following the incident, the Osun State Police Command initiated an investigation, leading to the arrest of those involved in the video.

It was alleged that they had used the video to extract approximately N38 million from Owoeye under the threat of releasing the clip to the public.

The culprits are: Kazeem Agbabiaka, Rasheed Ojonla, Babatunde Oluajo, Adebiyi Kehinde, Femi Oseni, and Oyebanji Oyeniyi, were arraigned in court on October 19, 2018. They faced various charges including conspiracy, advance fee fraud, and cyber-stalking.

Justice Ayo-Emmanuel, while delivering the verdict, characterized the actions of the convicts as operating like a web syndicate, causing significant hardship to their victims and therefore deserving of no leniency. As a result, he declared Agbabiaka, Oyeniyi, Ojonla, and Oluajo guilty and sentenced them to five years in prison for conspiracy and advance fee fraud.

Ismaila Azeez was discharged and acquitted of the cyber-stalking charge, but Femi Oseni was found guilty of the same charge and subsequently sentenced to five years in prison.