Justice Nathaniel Ayo-Emmanuel of the Federal High Court in Osogbo, Osun State, delivered sentences on Tuesday for five men convicted of cyber-stalking and defrauding the former Speaker of the Osun State House of Assembly, Timothy Owoeye, of N38 million. The case stemmed from a 13-second nude video of Owoeye that went viral on the internet in 2018.
The video featured Owoeye being accosted by individuals who accused him of engaging in a ritual in their community. Those involved in the video were subsequently arrested by the Osun State Police Command, as they were alleged to have used the clip to fraudulently obtain approximately N38 million from Owoeye before releasing it on the internet.
The convicted individuals, Kazeem Agbabiaka, Rasheed Ojonla, Babatunde Oluajo, Adebiyi Kehinde, Femi Oseni, and Oyebanji Oyeniyi, were arraigned in court on October 19, 2018, on five counts related to conspiracy, advance fee fraud, and cyber-stalking.
Justice Ayo-Emmanuel, in his judgment, characterized the convicts’ actions as those of a web syndicate, causing suffering to their victims, and thus deemed them unworthy of leniency. He rendered a guilty verdict for conspiracy and advance-fee fraud against Agbabiaka, Oyeniyi, Ojonla, and Oluajo, sentencing them to five years in prison.
The judge acquitted Ismaila Azeez on the count of cyber-stalking but found Femi Oseni guilty of the same charge, sentencing him to five years in prison.
