A Kwara State High Court on Thursday in Ilorin sentenced five persons to jail for offences bordering on internet fraud.

The convicts were prosecuted on separate charges by the Ilorin Zonal Command of the Economic and Financial Crimes Commission (EFCC).

Those sentenced are Aladekomo Samuel, from Ado-Ekiti; Mustapha Bashir, from Ilorin West Local Government Area; Sulyman Mustapha, from Okene; Adedayo Samuel, and Adeoye Olalekan, students of Kwara State Polytechnic in Ilorin.

The presiding judge, Justice Mahmud Abdulgafar, said he was convinced that the prosecution had established a case against the defendants to warrant their conviction and thus pronounced them guilty.

The court sentenced Samuel to a six-month suspended jail term on counts 1 and 2.

It also ordered the forfeiture of the convict’s iPhone 11 Promax, iPhone 6s and the sum of $400.

Bashir was also sentenced to six months of suspended imprisonment, while one Infinix Hot phone, which he used to commit the crime, will be forfeited to the Federal Government.

Adedayo Samuel and Adeoye Olalekan were sentenced to six months imprisonment with an option of N100,000 and N150,000 fines, respectively.

They are also to forfeit all the money in their bank accounts.

Sulyman Mustapha was sentenced to six months in prison with the option of a N50,000 fine and ordered to forfeit the iPhone XR used to perpetrate the crime to the Federal Government.

The defendants had earlier pleaded guilty to their respective charges.

Consequently, the prosecution counsel—Mr Andrew Akoja, Muinat Bello, and Isabel Adeniran—had in separate prayers urged the court to take judicial notice of the “guilty plea” by the defendants.