An Abeokuta High Court on Monday sentenced a man to 15 years imprisonment for impersonating the Awujale of Ijebuland, Oba Sikiru Adetona and defrauding people on the Internet.
23-year old Bidemi Thompson was found guilty 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.
Thompson posed as the Awujale of Ijebuland on Facebook and proposed marriage to Ms. Popoola in 2014.
Ms. Popoola consented to Mr. Thompson’s proposal and agreed to send money for the traditional marriage rituals into an account he opened.
The court also heard that Thompson invited Popoola to Nigeria for the monarch’s 80th birthday anniversary, but failed to meet him throughout the event.
After committing about N20million to the scam marriage, she suspected foul play and petitioned the Economic and Financial Crimes Commission.
Thompson was later arrested in Ibadan 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 was not remorseful throughout the trial, the judge said Thompson would serve the term concurrently.
