An 18-year-old internet fraudster, Hassan Usman Olamilekan who allegedly transferred his $800 proceed of crime to his grandmother’s account has been jailed for offences bordering on money laundering by Federal High Court, sitting in Ikoyi.

Olamilekan was convicted on Friday 30th October following his arraignment by the Lagos Zonal Directorate 1 of the Economic and Financial Crimes Commission (EFCC) on a one-count charge of money laundering, contrary to Section 18(2)(a) and punishable under Section 18(3) of the Money Laundering (Prevention and Prohibition) Act, 2022.

The EFCC accused the convict of disguising the origin of the sum of $800 in gift cards thereby committing an offence contrary to Section 18(2)(a) and punishable under Section 18(3) of the Money Laundering (Prevention and Prohibition) Act, 2022″.

The defendant pleaded guilty to the charge.

Following his plea, the facts of the case were reviewed by an EFCC operative, Ebuka Abanga.

Abanga told the court that investigations revealed that Olamilekan, 18, who claimed to hail from the Republic of Benin but was born in Nigeria, was involved in lottery scams and operated several social media platforms, including Facebook, Instagram, TikTok, Zangi and iMessage.

He reportedly met his victim, one Gary Brewer, a United States citizen, through the Zangi application, where he impersonated a white American woman identified as Julie Leach.

Olamilekan told the victim that he had won a lottery prize of $250,000,000 and needed money to activate the winnings before he could claim the prize. He subsequently persuaded the victim to send him gift cards through the Zangi application.

The defendant admitted selling the gift cards through the Cardsonic application, converting them to Naira and transferring the proceeds to his grandmother’s OPay account. He confessed to benefiting from a total of $800 from the fraudulent scheme.

The court subsequently found him guilty and convicted him accordingly.

Justice Dipeolu sentenced him to a fine of N200,000 and ordered him to remit the sum of N1,000,000 (One Million Naira) to the Federal Government of Nigeria. He is to remain in the Correctional centre pending the payment of the fine and restitution.

The court also ordered the forfeiture of an iPhone 11 Pro and a Poco C71 mobile phone, being items recovered in connection with the offence.

Olamilekan was among the 21 suspected internet fraudsters arrested by operatives of the Lagos Zonal Directorate 1 of the EFCC during a sting operation at Applewood Estate, Orchid Road, Lekki, Lagos State, on October 26, 2026.

The Ogun State Police Command has killed a suspected armed robber and recovered two vehicles, a locally made pistol and several items believed to have been stolen during a raid in Ota, Ogun State.

The operation took place in the early hours of yesterday at Ijaba, Iyesi, Ota, following a distress call from a resident reporting suspected criminal activity.
According to a statement by the command’s spokesperson, DSP Oluseyi Babaseyi, operatives from the Onipanu Division, under the Ota Area Command, arrived at the scene at about 1.45 a.m. but came under gunfire from the suspected robbers.
The officers reportedly returned fire, killing one of the suspects, while other members of the gang escaped with gunshot injuries.
Babaseyi said a search of the area led to the recovery of a Nissan Almera and a Toyota Camry, alongside several items suspected to have been stolen.

The recovered property included HP and Dell laptops, a PlayStation console, four mobile phones, a Samsung television, a standing fan, a rechargeable radio, a Wi-Fi device, clothing, an OPay ATM card and other household items.
The police also recovered a locally made pistol, two live cartridges and seven spent cartridges from the deceased suspect.
Other items found at the scene included a Tecno mobile phone, three passport photographs, an MTN SIM pack, two National Identification Number (NIN) cards and an undisclosed amount of cash.

The police spokesperson said efforts were ongoing to track down the fleeing suspects, particularly those who might have sustained gunshot injuries.

He added that investigations were also underway to establish the owners of the recovered vehicles and property and determine whether they were connected to other criminal activities.

The Muslim Rights Concern (MURIC) has called for the suspension of examinations at all Nigerian Law School campuses following alleged harassment, intimidation and exclusion of female Muslim students wearing hijab from examination halls.

The Islamic human rights organisation also demanded an investigation into the incidents, which reportedly occurred during the final examinations for candidates seeking admission to the Nigerian Bar on Saturday, October 31, 2026.

MURIC warned that it would mobilise parents, Muslim youths and other stakeholders for peaceful protests across Law School campuses nationwide if its demands were not met.

The Nigerian Law School had not responded to the allegations in the statement at the time of writing.

The organisation’s position was contained in a press statement issued on Sunday by its Founder and Executive Director, Professor Ishaq Akintola.

According to Akintola, several hijab-wearing female candidates were allegedly prevented from entering examination halls in different parts of the country because of their religious attire.

He said some candidates were reportedly made to stand outside examination halls for about an hour and were only allowed to enter after removing their hijabs.

“There was harassment and intimidation of hijab-wearing female Muslim students in some Law School examination halls across the country yesterday, Saturday, October 31, 2026,” Akintola said.

“Hijabites who came hoping to sit for their call-to-bar final examinations were disallowed from entering the examination halls. In some places, they were forced to remain standing outside for about one hour until they removed their hijabs before they were allowed to enter and start the examination.”

The MURIC director said the organisation received numerous telephone calls, text messages and online messages from distressed candidates, their parents and concerned Muslims during the incidents.

“While this was going on, our office was inundated with telephone calls, text messages and chats. We heard the cries of traumatised candidates, the lamentations of distressed parents hundreds of kilometres away from the examination centres and the agitation of concerned Muslims around the country,” he said.

Describing the alleged incidents as an infringement on the candidates’ rights, Akintola said the organisation strongly condemned what it considered an unjustifiable disruption of their educational and professional pursuits.

“MURIC strongly condemns the wanton disruption of the lawful educational pursuit of innocent Muslim ladies. It is crude, irrational and sadistic,” he said.

The organisation expressed particular concern that “it is the Law School, the bastion of law education and the centre of legal excellence, that is involved in the denigration of court pronouncements.”

He cited Section 38(1) and (2) of the 1999 Constitution, which guarantees freedom of thought, conscience and religion, including the freedom to manifest and propagate religious beliefs.

MURIC also referenced the Supreme Court’s 2022 decision in Lagos State Government & Ors v. Asiyat Abdulkareem, which it said affirmed that banning or restricting the hijab amounted to discrimination.

The organisation further argued that the alleged treatment of the candidates violated Section 42 of the Constitution, which guarantees freedom from discrimination.

Akintola also cited Section 34(1)(a), which protects the dignity of the human person and prohibits torture and inhuman or degrading treatment.

“The forceful undressing of our daughters at Law School examination centres in Nigeria is an open contravention of Section 34(a), which upholds the dignity of the human person by declaring authoritatively, unequivocally and emphatically that no person shall be subject to torture or to inhuman or degrading treatment,” he said.