Court sentences man to 2 months in prison for internet fraud

A Federal Capital Territory (FCT) High Court sitting in Jabi, Abuja, has sentenced Danji-Fari Ubadallah to two months in prison for internet fraud after he was found guilty of impersonating a woman online.

The conviction was announced in a statement issued by the Economic and Financial Crimes Commission (EFCC) on Wednesday, May 14, 2025. Ubadallah was arraigned by the anti-graft agency on Tuesday, May 13, 2025, on a one-count charge of cybercrime.

According to the EFCC, Ubadallah created a fake online persona to deceive unsuspecting victims for financial gain—a scheme that ultimately led to his arrest and prosecution.

The charge stated: “That you, Danji-Fari Ubadallah sometime in 2024 at Abuja within the jurisdiction of this Honourable Court cheated by personation when you created a Facebook account with the profile name Precious Rashel a United States of America citizen and under that assumed character obtained the sum of $50.00 (Fifty United States Dollars) from his victim one Rueben GI through a gift card and traded same with one Zhang Jie a Chinese citizen and received the Naira equivalent in your Opay account number 8100877271 under the false pretense that you are in a romantic relationship with him, a fact you knew to be false and thereby committed an offence contrary to Section 321 of the Penal Code Act, Laws of the Federation of Nigeria (Abuja) 1990 and punishable under Section 324 of the same Law.”

Upon reading the charge, Ubadallah entered a guilty plea. Prosecuting counsel, S.N. Robert, urged the court to proceed with conviction and sentencing.

Presiding over the matter, Justice A.I. Kutigi sentenced Ubadallah to two months in a correctional facility, with an option of paying a fine of N90,000. The court also ordered the forfeiture of the iPhone used in the crime to the Federal Government.

Ubadallah’s conviction followed his arrest and prosecution by the EFCC for cybercrime.