A 23-year-old man, Bidemi Thompson, has been sentenced to 15 years imprisonment by an Abeokuta High Court, Ogun State, for impersonating the Awujale of Ijebuland, Oba Sikiru Adetona and defrauding unsuspecting members of the public on the Internet.
The convict was found guilty Monday of opening a Facebook account with the name of the first class traditional ruler, which he used to defraud a Nigerian woman resident in Republic of Ireland, Olufunmilola Popoola.
The court heard that Mr. Thompson while posing as the Awujale on Facebook, proposed marriage to Ms. Popoola in 2014.
Ms. Popoola consented to the fraudster’s proposal and agreed to send money for the traditional marriage rituals into an account he opened.
The court also heard that Mr. Thompson invited Ms. Popoola to Nigeria for the monarch’s 80th birthday anniversary, but failed to meet her throughout the event.
After committing about N20million to the scam marriage, she suspected foul play and petitioned the Economic and Financial Crimes Commission.
Mr. Thompson was later arrested in Ibadan, the Oyo State by the EFCC and arraigned on a nine-count charge of Internet fraud, impersonation, conspiracy, obtaining money under false pretence, forgery, among others.
Delivering judgment, Justice A.A. Akinyemi found him guilty of eight out of the nine charges.
Describing the convict as a “serial and pathological liar”, who did not show any signs of remorse throughout the trial, the judge said Mr. Thompson would serve the term concurrently.
