The Federal Capital Territory High Court has handed down a verdict of community service to Abass Aminu Abdulkareem, a Yahoo boy, for perpetrating a $270 fraud.
The judgment was delivered by Justice O. I. Adelaja, following Abdulkareem’s arraignment by the Economic and Financial Crimes Commission (EFCC) on charges related to internet fraud.
Abdulkareem’s fraudulent activities revolved around impersonating an American woman’s cousin, Jeremiah Lincoln, on the social media platform Facebook.
Under the fabricated identity, he managed to obtain $270 from Amanda, a relative of Jeremiah Lincoln. These actions directly violated Section 321 of the Penal Code Law (Laws of the Federation, Abuja) 1990, and were subject to penalties outlined in Section 324 of the same Law.
“That you, Abass Aminu Abdulkareem sometime in 2023 at Abuja within the jurisdiction of the High Court of the Federal Capital Territory cheated by personation when you represented yourself on a Facebook profile page as Jeremiah Lincoln, a citizen of the United States of America and under that name obtained the sum of Two Hundred and Seventy United States Dollars ($270) from Amanda, a cousin to Jeremiah Lincoln and you thereby committed an offence contrary to Section 321 of the Penal Code Law (Laws of the Federation, Abuja) 1990 and punishable under Section 324 of the same Law,” the charge read.
Abdulkareem, upon facing the charges, entered a guilty plea.
As a result, Justice Adelaja ordered him to perform community service, which will be supervised by officers from the Nigerian Correctional Service (NCS).