Justice D. E. Osiagor of the Federal High Court, Ikoyi, Lagos, has convicted and sentenced nine Chinese nationals to one year imprisonment each for cyber-terrorism and internet fraud.
The convicted individuals — Li Dong, Deng Wei Qiang, Huang Bo, Xiong Zhen, Lai Rui Feng, Zhao Xiao Hui, Lui Hai Rong, Lui Gang, and Du Ji Feng — were part of a notorious cyber-fraud syndicate arrested during the “Eagle Flush Operation”, a sting operation carried out by operatives of the Economic and Financial Crimes Commission (EFCC) on December 19, 2024.
The syndicate, allegedly comprising 792 suspects involved in cryptocurrency investment scams and romance fraud, had targeted Nigerian citizens and sought to destabilize the nation’s economy through sophisticated online fraud schemes, Dele Oyewale, Head of Media & Publicity, EFCC, in a statement on Tuesday.
In February 2025, the Lagos Zonal Directorate 2 of the EFCC arraigned the nine convicts on separate one-count charges of cyber-terrorism and internet fraud under the Cybercrimes (Prohibition, Prevention, etc) Act 2015.
According to court documents, the charge read: “That you, LI Dong, Deng Wei Qiang, Huang Bo, Xiong Zhen, Lai Rui Feng, Zhao Xiao Hui, Lui Hai Rong, Lui Gang, and Du Ji Feng, 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.”
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Initially, the defendants pleaded “not guilty” to the charges. However, during court proceedings on Thursday, June 5, 2025, they reversed their plea to “guilty.”
Following the guilty plea, EFCC prosecution counsel Nnaemeka Omewa requested the court to convict and sentence the defendants accordingly. The defense counsel did not oppose the submission.
Justice Osiagor subsequently sentenced each defendant to one year in prison, effective from their arrest date — December 10, 2024 — and imposed an additional fine of ₦1,000,000 (One Million Naira) each.
The court further ordered that, upon completing their prison terms, the Comptroller General of Immigration should facilitate the repatriation of the convicts to their home country within seven days.
Additionally, the mobile phones, computers, laptops, and routers seized from the syndicate during the operation were forfeited to the Federal Government of Nigeria.
