An alleged WhatsApp hacker, Stephen Andrew Ojo, has been ordered to be remanded at the Ikoyi centre of the Nigerian Correctional Services by a Federal High Court in Lagos. The order was issued by Justice Akintayo Aluko following the arraignment of the defendant by officers of the Zone 2 Police Command, Onikan, Lagos.
Ojo faced four counts, including conspiracy, identity theft, and obtaining by false pretence during his arraignment on Wednesday. According to the police prosecutor, Zebedee Arekhandia, Ojo and accomplices, on September 12, 2023, at Ajao Estate, Lagos, conspired and engaged in identity theft by hacking the WhatsApp account of Mrs. Laraba Shuaibu. They allegedly impersonated her and used the hacked account to fraudulently obtain N700,000 from Mrs. Osasu Tina Eriamiatoe.
Arekhandia informed the court that the money was transferred into Ojo’s Union Bank account and PalmPay account number 9550723433 belonging to one Michael Ijua. The charges levied against Ojo contravene various sections of the Advance Fee Fraud and Other Fraud-Related Offences Act, 2006, the Cybercrime (Prohibition, Prevention, etc.) Act, 2015, and the Money Laundering (Prohibition) Act, 2022 as amended in 2012.
Despite Ojo’s guilty plea and his claim of innocence, Justice Aluko recorded a ‘not guilty plea’ for him. The court ordered his remand at the Ikoyi centre of the NCoS until January 24, 2024, when the Chief Judge would reassign his case file to the substantive judge.