A Federal High Court in Lagos handed down seven-year prison sentences on June 11, 2025, to four Filipinos and eight Nigerians, including Chukwudi Okafor, Adebayo Ojo, Michael Obi, and Chinedu Eze, for internet fraud and cyber terrorism.
The convicts, operating from a sleek Lekki apartment complex, orchestrated a transnational scam defrauding victims of $5 million through phishing emails, romance scams, and malware attacks. Their targets spanned Nigeria, the United States, and Canada, with one Canadian firm losing $1.2 million to a hacked payroll system.
The two-year investigation began in 2023, when a raid on their Lekki hideout uncovered 50 laptops, 20 SIM cards, and $50,000 in cash stashed in designer bags. The Filipinos, extradited from Manila in 2024, coordinated with Nigerian accomplices to create fake profiles on dating apps, luring victims with promises of love before draining their bank accounts.
The Nigerians, mostly tech-savvy graduates, deployed malware to infiltrate corporate networks, rerouting funds to offshore accounts in Dubai. The court, presided over by Justice Chukwujekwu Aneke, ordered ₦200 million in restitution to victims, with funds to be disbursed through international channels. The convicts, clad in orange jumpsuits, showed no emotion as they were led to prison vans bound for Kirikiri, their operation’s collapse a stark warning to Nigeria’s cybercrime underworld, thriving amid economic hardship.