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A Federal High Court in Ikoyi, Lagos, has sentenced nine Chinese nationals to one year imprisonment each for cyber-terrorism and internet fraud.
Justice D.E. Osiagor delivered the judgment on Monday, July 7, 2025, after the convicts pleaded guilty to a one-count charge brought against them by the Economic and Financial Crimes Commission (EFCC).
The nine were among 792 suspected members of a cyber fraud syndicate arrested in Lagos on December 19, 2024, during a sting operation codenamed “Eagle Flush” conducted by operatives of the EFCC.
They were arraigned separately in February 2025 by the EFCC’s Lagos Zonal Directorate 2.
The charge against them reads: “That you, Qin Xiao Yong, Luo Mao Yang, Liu Ni Ni, Liu Gang, Sun Qi (a.k.a Wan Jin Ping), Zhang Juan, Li de Wen, Fun Min, Tan Ming, sometime in December, 2024 at Lagos, within the jurisdiction of this Honourable Court, conspired amongst yourselves to commit an offence to wit: cause to be accessed computer system used for the purpose of destabilising and destroying the economy and social structure of Nigeria and thereby committed an offence contrary to Section 27 (1) (b) and punishable under Section 18(1) of the Cybercrimes (Prohibition, Prevention, Etc) Act 2015.”
Initially, the defendants pleaded not guilty but later changed their plea to guilty during Monday’s proceedings.
Following the change of plea, the prosecution counsel, R.A. Abdulrasheed, urged the court to convict them accordingly.
Justice Osiagor sentenced each of the defendants to one year imprisonment with effect from their date of arrest — December 10, 2024 — and imposed a fine of N1 million on each person.
The court also ordered the Comptroller General of Immigration to repatriate the convicts to China within seven days of the judgment.
Additionally, all mobile phones, laptops, routers, and other digital devices recovered from the convicts during their arrest were forfeited to the Federal Government.
Nigerian court jails 9 more Chinese for cyber-terrorism, Internet fraud
