The Kaduna State High Court, presided over by Justices Darius Khobo and Amina Ahmed Bello, found and sentenced six individuals to different lengths of imprisonment for engaging in land and internet fraud.
Justice Khobo imprisoned one individual for seven years for land fraud, while Justice Bello found five people guilty of internet fraud and sentenced them to eight years in prison.
Justice Khobo sentenced Kabiru Liman, while Justice Bello found Victory Godwin (also known as Felix Liam), Blessed Bartholomew (also known as Dave Gahan), Shedrack Bisalla (also known as Robert Downey Jr.), Bello Abiodun, and Friday Markus guilty.
After the accusations were read to them, each of them entered a guilty plea to a single count.
Godwin is accused of the following: “That you, Victory Godwin (a.k.a Felix Liam) “M”, sometimes in December, 2023, in Kaduna within the jurisdiction of this Honourable Court, impersonated one Felix Liam, allegedly residing in the United States of America (USA) on Facebook, and as such assumed character as “Felix Liam” and had chats with unsuspecting persons and you thereby committed Impersonation, an offence contrary to Section 142(1) of the Kaduna State Penal Code Law, 2017 and punishable under same law.” This is the allegation against Godwin.
Prosecution attorneys M.U. Gadaka and K.S. Ogunlade requested the court to convict the defendants in accordance with their guilty pleas.
As a result, Godwin and Bartholomew were found guilty and given a one-year prison sentence, with the possibility of a fine of N150, 000.00 (one hundred and fifty thousand naira) each. Additionally, Justice Bello ruled that their phones be forfeited to the Federal Government of Nigeria. Additionally, Bisalla was found guilty and given a two-year prison sentence with the possibility of a N150,000 fine by the judge.
Furthermore, Bello and Markus were found guilty and given two-year prison terms, with the possibility of a N150,000.00 fine. Additionally, they were told to give their phones back to the Nigerian Federal Government.
In a different event, Liman was found guilty and given a seven-year prison sentence by Justice Khobo.
After entering a guilty plea to two counts of conspiracy and acquiring money under false pretences, he was placed in jail.
In one of the charges, it states: “that on or about April 20, 2021, in Kaduna, within the jurisdiction of this Honourable Court, you, Abdullahi Haladu (M) and Kabiru Liman, conspired among yourselves to do an illegal act to wit; fraudulently obtained the sum of N1, 550,000.00 (One Million, Five Hundred and Fifty Thousand Naira) from one Malam Sani Isyak. When you falsely represented yourselves as the owners of a plot of land measuring 105×45 FADI, at Mangoron Agwai Sabon Garin Malalin, and had the authority to sell same, you committed an offence against Section 8(a) of punished under Section 1(3) of the Advance Fee Fraud and Other Fraud Related Offences Act, 2006.
Prosecution attorney M.E. Eimonye asked the court to prosecute the defendant in accordance with his plea.
After then, the judge found Liman guilty on all counts and sentenced him to seven years in jail with a fine of N100,000.00 (one hundred thousand naira) per count.
After being apprehended for charges relating to the internet at many places in Kaduna, five of the prisoners were sentenced to prison. They used a variety of phoney identities to deceive their victims by pretending to be foreigners. Liman was the only one detained for land fraud. He deceitfully gave his victim N1, 550,000.00 under the pretence of selling him a piece of land. He did not give the victim the land or the money back.
