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Nigerian Yahoo Boy, Okwo Mark was ordered by an FCT High Court on Thursday to clean the premises of the Economic and Financial Crimes Commission, EFCC, for three days for internet fraud.
The EFCC docked Mark for impersonating Stella Coleman, an American citizen working as an FBI agent.
He entered a guilty plea and asked the court for mercy.
In his decision, Justice Aliyu Shafa sentenced Mark to three months in prison or a N50,000 fine.
The judge ordered Mark to clean the EFCC office from 8 a.m. until noon, while being supervised by a Legal Department official.
He ordered that the phone used by the offender to commit the crime be entirely destroyed, that it be burned, and that evidence of the destruction be placed before the court.
“I have carefully listened to the plea of allocutus made by the said convict and the defence Counsel.
“The rate of internet fraud especially among youths in the society is so alarming and the court will not allow the convict to go unpunished as this will serve as a deterrent to others that wants to toll same path,” the judge ruled according to Daily Nigerian.
Mr Shafa ordered that the proceeds of the crime, totaling $500 USD, be returned to the nominal complainant and the receipt returned to the court as evidence, as this will serve to portray the country favorably.
Earlier, the inmate appealed with the court not to tamper with justice, saying he would never do so again."I promise I will not commit such an act again," he pleaded.
In support of the convict's allocutus, defence counsel B.E. Danjuma told the court that Mark, who had no previous criminal record in Nigeria, was remorseful and repentant.
“Mark, is a young man who was cut up with bad company. He is just 21 years with a promising future. He regrets the consequences of his act.
“The convict has shown remorse and genuinely repented over the crime he has committed against the nation, by way of expressing genuine repentance he has restituted the proceed of crime which is the sum of 500 U.S dollar.
“The convict is a first time offender. We urge my Lord to tamper justice with mercy,” the convict’s female lawyer pleaded.
M.M. Gwani, counsel for the EFCC, told the court that Mark defrauded sometime in 2022 within the Court's jurisdiction.
According to Mr Gwani, the criminal fooled while posing as Stella Coleman, an American citizen working with an FBI agent.
He said that the criminal defrauded him by convincing Arnold to deliver 500 US dollars, which the convict utilized for his own personal purposes.
He claimed the offense violated Section 320 of the Penal Code Act Law of the Federation (Abuja), 1990, and was penalized under Section 322 of the same Act.
He requested that the instrument used in the crime be forfeited and the proceeds be returned to the complainant.