‘Yahoo guys’ in Abuja given community service sentences for fraud

Three Internet fraudsters, known as “yahoo boys,” were charged with fraud by the Economic and Financial Crimes Commission Abuja Zonal Command and found guilty. They were sentenced to community service in Abuja.

A Federal High Court in the nation’s capital handed down the punishment on Monday, according to a statement released by the EFCC on Tuesday morning.

Victor Joseph, Mohammed Edogi Mohammed, and Johnson Nifemi, the three offenders, were each charged with one count of engaging in online fraud.

Joseph allegedly got N150,000 from a Chinese person named Xiao by pretending to be a marine engineer named Zhang Li.

The second suspect, Mohammed, similarly used the alias Bryan Alex on social networking applications to defraud Lekin Elli, Williana, and Flavio of N1,500,000.

While the final suspect Nifemi claimed to be an American engineer going by the name of John Alpha and robbed American citizen Jane Appado of $170

After finding the suspects guilty of the offence, Justice A.I. Akobi of the FCT High Court Gwagwalada handed down the sentence of community service.

A statement by the EFCC read, “Three Yahoo Boys Sentenced to Community Service in Abuja The EFCC, Abuja Zonal Command on Monday, February 6, 2023, arraigned three fraud suspects: Victor Joseph, Mohammed Edogi Mohammed and Johnson Nifemi, before Justice A.I. Akobi of the FCT High Court Gwagwalada Abuja on one count charge each, bordering on internet fraud.

“Joseph allegedly pretended to be a marine engineer named Zhang Li and obtained N150,000 (One Hundred and Fifty Thousand Naira Only) from one Xiao, a Chinese citizen, while Mohammed also posed as a Bryan Alex on various social media apps and obtained N1,500,000 (One Million Five Hundred Thousand Naira Only) from LekinElli, Williana and Flavio.

“Nifemi impersonated one John Alpha, an American engineer and defrauded one Jane Appado, a United States of America citizen of $170 (One hundred and seventy US Dollars).”