The Federal High Court in Lagos on Friday sentenced 14 Chinese nationals to one year imprisonment each for cyberterrorism and internet fraud.

Justice Daniel Osiagor delivered the judgment after the Economic and Financial Crimes Commission informed the court that the convicts had entered a plea bargain agreement with the prosecution.

EFCC counsel, Spiff Owede and Temitope Banjo, urged the court to adopt the agreement, and the convicts subsequently changed their initial “not guilty” pleas to “guilty.”

The convicted are: Su Zong Gen, Li Zhong Chang, Chen Gui Ping, Li Xiang Long, San Feng Zhang, Jia Yang, Jia Zhi Hao, Liu Chuang, Yu Hai Ging, Zhao Xiao Liang, Dai Li, Tao Kun, Mao Bu Yi, and Zhao Zi Cheng.

They were arrested on December 19, 2024, during a sting operation in Lagos codenamed “Eagle Flush Operation,” which led to the apprehension of 792 suspected members of a cybercrime syndicate involved in cryptocurrency investment and romance scams.

Each of the convicts was charged separately with offences bordering on cyberterrorism and internet fraud.

EFCC, told the court that Su Zong Gen, sometime in December 2024 in Lagos, willfully caused to be accessed computer system for the purpose of destabilizing and destroying the economy and social structure of Nigeria.

According to the prosecutor the offences committed contravend Section 18 of the Cybercrime (Prohibition, Prevention, etc) Act, 2015 (as amended in 2024).

Following their guilty pleas, the prosecution asked the court to convict them accordingly.

But the defence counsel, Segun Bello, did not oppose the request.

Justice Osiagor sentenced each defendant to one year in prison with an option of a N1m, fine.

The court further ordered that all items recovered from the convicts be forfeited to the Federal Government of Nigeria.

Upon completion of their jail terms, the judge directed the Comptroller-General of the Nigeria Immigration Service to ensure their deportation to China within seven days. (The PUNCH)