Five men have been convicted and jailed for cyber-stalking and defrauding former Speaker of Osun State House of Assembly, Timothy Owoeye, of the sum of N38 million.
The convicts had reportedly blackmailed the speaker with his 13-second nude video which was leaked on the internet in 2018. They accused the then-member representing Ilesa East State Constituency in Osun House of Assembly of coming to their community to carry out a ritual.
However, an investigation carried out by Osun Police Command revealed that the convicts identified as Kazeem Agbabiaka, Rasheed Ojonla, Babatunde Oluajo, Adebiyi Kehinde, Femi Oseni, and Oyebanji Oyeniyi, used the clip to obtain around N38 million from Owoeye, before it was released on the internet.
During the trial of the convicts who were arraigned on five counts bordering on conspiracy, advance-free fraud and cyber-stalking, the prosecution from the Ministry of Justice led by Mr. Moses Faremi, called six witnesses and presented 57 exhibits including bank statements of the defendants.
Ruling on the case, Justice Ayo-Emmanuel sentenced Agbabiaka, Oyeniyi, Ojonla and Oluajo to five years imprisonment for conspiracy and advance-free fraud. The judge, however, discharged and acquitted Ismaila Azeez, on the count bothering on cyberstalking, but found Oseni guilty of the same charge and sentenced him to five years imprisonment.