The Federal High Court sitting in Ikoyi, Lagos, has convicted and sentenced nine Chinese nationals to one year imprisonment each for cyber-terrorism and internet fraud.
Justice D.E. Osiagor delivered the verdict on Thursday, July 7, 2025, following their arraignment by the Economic and Financial Crimes Commission (EFCC).
The convicts — 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, and Tan Ming — were among a syndicate of 792 suspected cryptocurrency investment and romance scammers arrested during the EFCC’s sting operation tagged “Eagle Flush Operation” in Lagos on December 19, 2024.
Initially, the nine defendants pleaded not guilty to the one-count charge filed against them by the EFCC’s Lagos Zonal Directorate 2. However, during Monday’s proceedings, they changed their plea to guilty.
The charge 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.”
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Following their change of plea, prosecution counsel R.A. Abdulrasheed urged the court to convict them. Justice Osiagor accordingly sentenced each defendant to one year in prison, commencing from the date of their arrest on December 19, 2024, and imposed a fine of N1,000,000 (One Million Naira) each.
The court further directed the Comptroller General of Immigration to ensure the immediate deportation of the convicts to China within seven days of completing their sentences.
Additionally, Justice Osiagor ordered that the mobile phones, laptop computers, and internet routers seized from the convicts during their arrest be forfeited to the Federal Government of Nigeria.
The EFCC, in a statement signed by its Head of Media and Publicity, Dele Oyewale, emphasized its resolve to continue prosecuting cybercriminals whose activities threaten Nigeria’s economy and national security.