Henry Nathaniel Ekanem, a final-year student at the University of Port Harcourt (UNIPORT), has received a 14-year prison sentence on charges of internet fraud.
Justice A. T. Mohammed of the Federal High Court in Port Harcourt convicted Ekanem on seven counts, issuing a two-year prison term for each count.
The court allowed an option to pay a fine of N200,000 per count, with proceeds directed to Nigeria's Consolidated Revenue Account.
The judge also ordered that all the phones recovered from the convict be forfeited to the government, being proceeds of crime.
The convict according to a statement signed by its Head Media and Publicity, Dele Oyewale, was arrested by the Economic and Financial Crimes Commission (EFCC) sometime in September 2024 at Choba, Port Harcourt.
Oyewale who noted that the convict pleaded guilty when the charge was read to him, added he was arraigned by the Port Harcourt Zonal Directorate of the EFCC on seven count charges bordering on obtaining money under pretense and impersonation, an offense contrary to Section 1(1) (a) and punishable under Section 1(3) of the Advance Fee Fraud and other Fraud-Related Offences Act 2006 among others.