A student of the University of Port Harcourt (UNIPORT) has been handed a 14-year sentence for internet fraud.

The undergraduate, identified as Henry Nathaniel Ekanem, was convicted before the judge A. T. Mohammed during a federal high court sitting in Rivers state on Wednesday.

Ekanem was arraigned by the Port Harcourt zonal directorate of the Economic and Financial Crimes Commission (EFCC).

The final-year student faced a seven-count charge bordering on obtaining money under false pretence and impersonation.

One of the counts reads:

“That you, Henry Nathaniel Ekanem on or about 17th September 2024, at Choba in Port Harcourt, Rivers state, within the jurisdiction of this honourable court, with intent to defraud, did obtain the sum of twenty-two United States of America dollars ($22) from Diana Roskov by fraudulently representing yourself as Coran Capsha, manager of the singer, Chris Stapleton, a pretence you knew to be false and thereby committed offence contrary to Section 1(1) (a) and punishable under Section 1(3) of the Advance Fee Fraud and other Fraud- Related Offences Act 2006.”

Ekanem pleaded guilty when the charges were read to him.

Given his plea, the prosecution counsel A. Abubakar tendered some documents that were admitted by the court and marked as exhibits.

He prayed the court to convict and sentence the defendant accordingly.

F. T. Fred-Boufini, counsel to the defendant, did not oppose the prayers by the prosecution.

She prayed the court to be merciful as the defendant was a first-time offender with no previous criminal records.

The judge convicted and sentenced the defendant to two years imprisonment on each of the seven counts or an option of a fine of N200,000 payable into the consolidated revenue account of the federal government.

The judge also ordered that all the phones recovered from the convict be forfeited to the government.

He said the convict shall also depose an affidavit of good behaviour before the court.

Ekanem was arrested by the EFCC in September at Choba in Port Harcourt for internet fraud and other fraud-related activities.

The convict defrauded one Diana Roskov by impersonating Coran Capsha, the manager of the singer Chris Stapleton, via social media.

The National Drug Law Enforcement Agency (NDLEA) says its operatives have uncovered a significant drug haul at Tincan Island Port in Lagos state and Onne Port in Rivers state.

The agency said 26,250,000 pills of tramadol and 508,400 bottles of codeine syrup with a street value of N16.68 billion were seized in separate raids.

Other drugs seized include 10 million tablets of Toradol Benzhexol and 28 plastic drums of methamphetamine weighing 700kg.

The agency also seized 2,118 pills of tramadol concealed in soles of 13 pairs of shoes.

In a statement on Sunday, Femi Babafemi, NDLEA spokesperson, said the Cyprus-bound consignment was seized at the export shed of the Lagos airport on October 12, 2024.

Femi Babafemi, NDLEA spokesperson, said an additional 380 tablets were recovered from the home of the alleged sender, Okenwa Uchenna, during a follow-up operation in Enugu state on 24 October.

“A cash sum of N968,880 and a Toyota Avalon car marked UWN 389 AS were also recovered from the suspect at the time of his arrest,” Babafemi said.

A 40-year-old suspect, Tsolaye Eburajolo, was also arrested in connection with a cannabis seizure in the Ago Palace area of Lagos.

Babafemi said a “bribe of N10 million” allegedly paid to NDLEA officers to free the suspect has been kept as evidence for prosecution.

He added that on October 25, NDLEA operatives raided the Igbo-Igunuko shrine at Alfa Beach in Ajah.

They recovered jumbo bags of Ghanaian Loud cannabis, weighing 2,760kg, and arrested two suspects — Gbenga Abiodun and Sunday Abiodun.

Another suspect, Ademola Oyelakin, was also arrested with 770kg of the same substance along the Lagos-Ibadan expressway.

Additionally, a total of 11,786 pills of tramadol, molly, rohypnol, and diazepam, as well as 64 bottles of codeine syrup were recovered from an underground storage at the home of suspect Muhammad Warnos Abdullahi in Lekki Phase 1, Lagos.

The NDLEA reported said he had dug a deep storage space in his room, covered it with a padlocked iron slate, a rug, and placed his mattress on top to avoid detection.

A federal high court in Lagos has convicted and sentenced Adrienne Munju, a Canadian woman, to 11 years in prison for drug trafficking.

The court convicted Munju after she pleaded guilty to a two-count charge preferred against her by the National Drug Law Enforcement Agency (NDLEA).

Operatives of the NDLEA arrested the convict on October 3 at terminal 1 of the Murtala Muhammed International Airport (MMIA), Ikeja Lagos, during the inward clearance of inbound passengers on a KLM flight at the airport’s ‘D’ arrival hall.

Narcotic agents found 74 parcels of Canadian loud, a strong strain of synthetic cannabis, weighing 35.20 kilograms in the possession of the woman.

Munju claimed she was recruited to traffic the illicit consignment through an online platform for 10,000 Canadian dollars upon successful delivery in Lagos.

The 41-year-old said she took the offer to be able to raise money to pay for her ongoing master’s degree programme in Canada.

At the court on Wednesday, the Canadian pleaded guilty to the charges when they were read to her.

After the defendant’s pleas, Abu Ibrahim, the NDLEA prosecutor, called a witness, Angela Mba, an assistant superintendent of narcotics at the agency.

Mba narrated how the Canadian was arrested with the illicit drugs, after which she tendered some exhibits, which include two suitcases that were used in concealing the drugs, her Canadian passport, confessional statements, laboratory test analysis reports, and samples of the illicit drug. All the items were admitted as exhibits 1 to 13.

Deinde Dipeolu, the presiding judge, convicted the defendant after reviewing the facts and the exhibits.

In his allocutus before the court, Benson Ndakara, counsel to the defendant, pleaded with the court to have mercy on the convict.

“We plead for leniency on behalf of the convict, my lord,” Ndakara said.

“The convict pleaded guilty at the earliest opportunity by not wasting the precious time of the court and has been very remorseful.”

After listening to the allocutus by the defendant’s counsel, Dipeolu sentenced Adrienne Munju to six years in prison on count one and five years on count two.

The judge, however, gave the convict an option of a N50 million fine on each of the two counts, amounting to N100 million.