Court remands 109 foreigners arrested for ‘cybercrime, money laundering’ in Abuja

A federal high court in Abuja has ordered the remand of 109 foreigners over alleged cybercrime and money laundering.

Ekerete Akpan, the trial judge, ordered the remand of the suspects at the Kuje and Suleja correctional centres.

On November 3, the Nigeria Police Force (NPF) said its operatives arrested 130 suspects for “high-level cybercrimes, hacking, and activities threatening national security”.

Muyiwa Adejobi, force spokesperson, said the suspects comprise 113 foreign nationals — 87 males and 26 females — and their 17 Nigerian collaborators — four males and 13 females.

On Friday, the suspects were taken to the court for possible arraignment, which did not take place due to the absence of legal representation.

A six-count charge was filed against the suspects by the inspector-general of police who were also accused of unlawfully residing in Nigeria.

During court proceedings on Friday, James Onoja, counsel to some of the defendants, said he discovered the correct names of some of his clients were not written in the charge sheet.

Onoja said some of the defendants needed interpreters to help understand the English language — the language being used in the court.

“This information came to light when we were discussing the possible terms of bail for the defendants,” he said.

“We told them that the court would ask for their travel documents, and they said the names on the charge sheet were not their names.”

The counsel proposed an adjournment of the arraignment, a move that was not opposed by A.A. Egwu, counsel to the police.

Egwu reminded the court about an earlier ex-parte motion on the request for the relocation of the defendants from police facility to the correctional centres pending the determination of bail.

He said the police facility is overwhelmed due to the high number of suspects.

The presiding judge agreed with the police counsel, adding that it is appropriate to remand the suspects at the correctional centres.

Akpan remanded the suspects at the Kuje and Suleja correctional centres, and adjourned the case to November 29.