An Ikeja Special Offences Court sentenced 18-year-old Henry Bilabi to two years’ imprisonment for impersonation and defrauding unsuspecting citizens of $500 on TikTok.
The verdict, delivered by Justice Ismail Ijelu, followed Bilabi’s plea bargain in the charge of impersonation brought against him by the Economic and Financial Crimes Commission (EFCC), as reported by the News Agency of Nigeria (NAN).
“The court is satisfied that the defendant understands the plea bargain agreement, and accordingly, the defendant is hereby found guilty. You just finished secondary school, and the only thing you know how to do is commit a crime,” said the judge.
Justice Ijelu, however, gave the convict the option of a fine of one million naira, which must be paid within 30 days.
He also ordered that the convict carry out six hours of community service for three months under the supervision of the officials of the Lagos Custodial Centre.
The judge further ordered the convict to write an undertaking never to go back to the crime. He was also asked to forfeit his iPhone 7 to the Federal Government.
Earlier, the EFCC counsel, Mr Ahmed Yerima, in his review of facts, had told the court that the commission received an intelligence report sometime in October 2023 that some young persons were defrauding innocent citizens around Ajah.
Yerima said that the convict was arrested, and when his phone was analysed using forensic tools, some fraudulent documents were printed out from his TikTok account.
“He confessed to having created a fake TikTok account where he represented himself as Grace David with the username grace_david2, where he benefited $50.
“He raised a manager cheque of N50,000 in favour of the EFCC during the investigation,” he said.
The convict’s statement, iPhone 7, and a cheque for N50,000 were admitted as evidence following no objections from the defence counsel, Ms Mary Uzodimma.
The convict, in his plea for mercy, had prayed to the court to temper justice with mercy.
According to the prosecution, the offence contravened Section 380 of the Criminal Laws of Lagos State, 2015.
