A Federal High Court sitting in Ilorin,Presided over by Justice Abimbola Awogboro has sentenced Musa Buba to 300 hours of community service for operating a bureau de change business without a valid license.
Similarly, the judge also sentenced one Akinwale Olamilekan from Owena Ijesha in Oriade Local Government Area of Osun State, to 300 (Three Hundred) hours community service of five hours per day without option of fine, having found him guilty of a lone count charge of cybercrime.
The Ilorin Zonal Directorate of the Economic and Financial Crimes Commission (EFCC) arraigned both Musa and Akinwale on separate charges before the court on Thursday, March 20, 2025.
In the charge Musa Buba was alleged to have sometimes in July 2024 at Chikanda Market, Yashikira District, Baruten Local Government Area, Kwara State did carry on the business of another financial institution, to with: Bureau De Change Business, without a valid license issued by the Central Bank of Nigeria,
The offence contravene Section 57 (1) & (2) of the Banks and Other Financial Institutions Act, 2020, and punishable under Section 57(5)(b) of the same Act.”
In the charge against Akinwale Olamilekan (Alias: Mary Williams),he was alleged to have sometime in November 2024, fraudulently impersonate one Mary Williams via his iMessage account to obtain the sum of $950 (Nine Hundred and Fifty US Dollars) from one Mark Durham,
The offence is contrary to Section 22 (2)(b)(ii) of the Cybercrime (Prohibition, Prevention, Etc.) Act and punishable under Section 22 (2)(b)(iv) of the same Act.”
The defendants pleaded guilty to their respective charge.
Convinced by the facts of the case, the uncontroverted evidence presented by the prosecution, led by Andrew Akoja, and the guilty pleas of the defendants, Justice Awogboro convicted and sentenced them accordingly.
In addition to the sentence, the court ordered Musa Buba to forfeit the sum of 409,500 CFA and N1,973,200 (One Million, Nine Hundred and Seventy-Three Thousand, Two Hundred Naira Only), recovered from him at the point of arrest, to the Federal Government.
Similarly, the judge ordered Akinwale to forfeit the sum of $450 (Four Hundred and Fifty US Dollars), which he had restituted, as well as an iPhone 12 Pro Max, which he used in perpetrating the crime, to the Federal Government.
Cov/Ali Muhammad Rabi’u.
