Nigerian Actress Sentenced to Six Months in Jail for Spraying New Naira Notes at Party
Category: Crime
On Thursday, February 1, 2024, Justice Chukwujekwu Aneke of the Federal High Court in Ikoyi, Lagos, handed a six-month prison sentence to Oluwadarasimi Omoseyin, an actress. The conviction stems from her act of spraying and stepping on the new naira notes during a social event in Lagos State. Oluwadarasimi Omoseyin had initially been charged on February 13, 2023, by the Lagos Zonal Command of the Economic and Financial Crimes Commission (EFCC) with two counts, to which she entered a plea of "not guilty."
She was subsequently granted bail on February 15, 2023.
One of the charges alleges: “That on the 28th day of January 2023, at Monarch Event Centre, Lekki, Lagos, within the jurisdiction of this Honourable Court, while participating in a social occasion, Oluwadarasimi Omoseyin tampered with the sum of N100,000 (one hundred thousand naira) issued by the Central Bank of Nigeria by spraying it during the said event, thereby committing an offence contrary to and punishable under Section 21(1) of the Central Bank Act, 2007.”
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Naira Abuse: Court Grants Actress Omoseyin N5M Bail
During the resumed hearing on Thursday, Omoseyin changed her plea from "not guilty" to "guilty" in light of the compelling evidence against her.
Subsequent to her admission of guilt, the prosecution counsel, Z.B. Atiku, summoned Abubakar Mohammed Marafa, an operative of the EFCC, to present the facts of the case.
Marafa recounted, “The defendant was apprehended by officers of the Independent Corrupt Practices and Other Related Offences Commission, ICPC, on February 1, 2023, and was subsequently handed over to the Commission on February 2, 2023, for further investigation.”
He stated that the defendant's statement was obtained with due caution, wherein she admitted to attending a friend's wedding on January 28, 2023, and spraying N200 and N100 naira notes during the occasion.
“The defendant underwent processing, and videos of her money-spraying were discovered on her phone. Additionally, a thorough investigation was conducted, leading to the invitation of the event centre's management, who provided video footage of the mentioned event,” he explained.
Subsequently, the prosecution counsel sought to present, as evidence, the letter from the ICPC and accompanying documents. These included the defendant's extra-judicial statement, a forensic report of her phone, a CD containing videos depicting the money-spraying incident, a flash drive from the event centre, and the statement from the centre's representative.
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Justice Aneke admitted these items as exhibits and proceeded to convict the defendant as charged.
In the plea for leniency, the defense counsel, Afuye Adegbola, emphasized that the defendant was a first-time offender, a mother of one, and expressed remorse, urging mercy. He further requested a non-custodial sentence on behalf of the convict.
In delivering the judgment, Justice Aneke sentenced the defendant to six months in prison, effective from Thursday, with an alternative option of a N300,000 (three hundred thousand naira only) fine to be remitted to the consolidated revenue account of the federation.
On Thursday, February 1, 2024, Justice Chukwujekwu Aneke of the Federal High Court in Ikoyi, Lagos, handed a six-month prison sentence to Oluwadarasimi Omoseyin, an actress. The conviction stems from her act of spraying and stepping on the new naira notes during a social event in Lagos State. Oluwadarasimi Omoseyin had initially been charged on February 13, 2023, by the Lagos Zonal Command of the Economic and Financial Crimes Commission (EFCC) with two counts, to which she entered a plea of "not guilty."
She was subsequently granted bail on February 15, 2023.
One of the charges alleges: “That on the 28th day of January 2023, at Monarch Event Centre, Lekki, Lagos, within the jurisdiction of this Honourable Court, while participating in a social occasion, Oluwadarasimi Omoseyin tampered with the sum of N100,000 (one hundred thousand naira) issued by the Central Bank of Nigeria by spraying it during the said event, thereby committing an offence contrary to and punishable under Section 21(1) of the Central Bank Act, 2007.”
During the resumed hearing on Thursday, Omoseyin changed her plea from "not guilty" to "guilty" in light of the compelling evidence against her.
Subsequent to her admission of guilt, the prosecution counsel, Z.B. Atiku, summoned Abubakar Mohammed Marafa, an operative of the EFCC, to present the facts of the case.
Marafa recounted, “The defendant was apprehended by officers of the Independent Corrupt Practices and Other Related Offences Commission, ICPC, on February 1, 2023, and was subsequently handed over to the Commission on February 2, 2023, for further investigation.”
He stated that the defendant's statement was obtained with due caution, wherein she admitted to attending a friend's wedding on January 28, 2023, and spraying N200 and N100 naira notes during the occasion.
“The defendant underwent processing, and videos of her money-spraying were discovered on her phone. Additionally, a thorough investigation was conducted, leading to the invitation of the event centre's management, who provided video footage of the mentioned event,” he explained.
Subsequently, the prosecution counsel sought to present, as evidence, the letter from the ICPC and accompanying documents. These included the defendant's extra-judicial statement, a forensic report of her phone, a CD containing videos depicting the money-spraying incident, a flash drive from the event centre, and the statement from the centre's representative.
SEE: Comedy: Obi Cubana Feat Mr. Macaroni, Don Jazzy and Obi Cubana (Video)
Justice Aneke admitted these items as exhibits and proceeded to convict the defendant as charged.
In the plea for leniency, the defense counsel, Afuye Adegbola, emphasized that the defendant was a first-time offender, a mother of one, and expressed remorse, urging mercy. He further requested a non-custodial sentence on behalf of the convict.
In delivering the judgment, Justice Aneke sentenced the defendant to six months in prison, effective from Thursday, with an alternative option of a N300,000 (three hundred thousand naira only) fine to be remitted to the consolidated revenue account of the federation.
I begin to see this as one of the irrelevant reports to be hearing right now. We need reports on criminals touching on our present insecurity who have been sent to prison.
ReplyDeleteCome to think of it. What stops me from spaying somebody money. This has been a culture of our own forefathers as Yorubas. Let me ask this judge: How has the spraying of new notes by this actress at a party disvalued the naira? I don't understand. This is injustice and evidence that some laws were made out of emotion and not out of logic. Repeat such law now