Justice Nathaniel Ayo-Emmanuel, presiding over the Federal High Court in Osogbo, Osun State, delivered sentences to five individuals who were on trial for cyber-stalking and defrauding the former Speaker of Osun State House of Assembly, Timothy Owoeye, of N38 million.
In 2018, a 13-second nude video of Timothy Owoeye, who was then a member representing Ilesa East State Constituency in the Osun House of Assembly, circulated on the internet. The video depicted Owoeye being confronted by individuals who accused him of engaging in a ritual in their community.
The Osun Police Command conducted an investigation into the incident and arrested those seen in the video, who were alleged to have used the video to extort around N38 million from Owoeye before releasing it on the internet.
The convicts, Kazeem Agbabiaka, Rasheed Ojonla, Babatunde Oluajo, Adebiyi Kehinde, Femi Oseni, and Oyebanji Oyeniyi, were arraigned before the court on October 19, 2018, on five counts related to conspiracy, advance-fee fraud, and cyber-stalking.
Throughout the trial, the prosecution, represented by Mr. Moses Faremi from the Ministry of Justice, called six witnesses and presented 57 exhibits, including the defendants’ bank statements.
Justice Ayo-Emmanuel, while delivering the verdict, described the convicts as operating like a web of syndicates, causing hardship to their victims and warranting no leniency. Consequently, he pronounced them guilty and sentenced Agbabiaka, Oyeniyi, Ojonla, and Oluajo to five years in prison for conspiracy and advance-fee fraud.
The judge, however, acquitted Ismaila Azeez on the count related to cyberstalking but found Oseni guilty of the same charge, sentencing him to five years in prison.
