A FEDERAL High Court in Ikoyi, Lagos, has convicted and sentenced nine Chinese nationals to one year imprisonment each for cyber-terrorism and internet fraud.
The court, headed by D. E. Osiagor, sentenced the Chinese following their arrest in a major sting operation by the Economic and Financial Crimes Commission (EFCC).
This was disclosed in a statement by the EFCC via X on Tuesday, June 10.
The convicts include Deng Wei Qiang, Huang Bo, LI Dong, Xiong Zhen, Lai Rui Feng, Zhao Xiao Hui, Du Ji Feng, Lui Gang, and Lui Hai Rong.
According to the EFCC, the convicts were part of a syndicate of 792 alleged cryptocurrency investment and romance fraud suspects apprehended on December 19, 2024.
The EFCC stated that its Lagos Zonal Directorate 2 charged the Chinese in February 2025 with one count of separate charges of cyber-terrorism and internet fraud.
The charge stated, “That you, LI Dong, Deng Wei Qiang, Huang Bo, Xiong Zhen, Lai Rui Feng, Zhao Xiao Hui, Lui Hai Rong, Lui Gang, and Du Ji Feng, sometime in December 2024 at Lagos, within the jurisdiction of this Honourable Court, conspired amongst yourselves to commit an offence to wit: cause to be accessed a computer system used for the purpose of destabilising and destroying the economy and social structure of Nigeria, and thereby committed an offence contrary to Section 27(1)(b) and punishable under Section 18(1) of the Cybercrimes (Prohibition, Prevention, etc.) Act 2015.”
The anti-graft agency said the defendants initially said “not guilty” but changed their pleas to “guilty” in court on June 5, 2025.
Prosecution counsel, Nnaemeka Omewa, pleaded with the court to convict and sentence them accordingly, a request supported by the defence counsel.
The judge, Osiagor, afterwards sentenced each defendant to one year in prison, effective from their arrest date of December 10, 2024, and imposed a fine of N1 million on each.
The court further directed that the convicts be returned to their country of origin within seven days of completing their sentences, as directed to the Comptroller General of Immigration.
Additionally, the EFCC seized the convicts’ phones, computers, laptops, and routers during the “Eagle Flush Operation.” The items were forfeited to the Federal Government.
A reporter with the ICIR
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