US extradites two Nigerians over sextortion

The United States has extradited two Nigerian men to face federal prosecution over alleged financially motivated sextortion schemes targeting American minors, including cases linked to the deaths of teenagers by suicide.

The US Department of Justice announced on August 28 that Adebola Festus Adekunle, 26, of Lagos, and Mudasiru Afeez Olawale, 24, were taken into US custody on August 27. They were arrested in Nigeria in August 2023 as part of Operation Artemis, an FBI-led crackdown on sextortion networks operating from Nigeria.

Adekunle appeared in federal court in Oxford, Mississippi, while Olawale appeared in Greensboro, North Carolina. Both face separate federal cases.

Adekunle is charged with sexual exploitation of a minor resulting in death, coercion and enticement of a minor, and interstate threats with intent to extort. The charges relate to the death of 16-year-old Walker Montgomery of Mississippi, who died by suicide in 2022 after being targeted in a sextortion scheme.

Olawale faces charges including sexual exploitation of minors, coercion and enticement of minors, distribution of child pornography and other related offences.

Both men face a maximum penalty of life imprisonment. The child exploitation resulting in death charge carries a mandatory minimum sentence of 30 years.

FBI Director Kash Patel said: “They’ve been overseas for three years, but this FBI and our DOJ partners went and got them.”

The extradition was facilitated by the DOJ’s Office of International Affairs, the FBI Legal Attaché in Abuja, and Nigerian authorities, including the Economic and Financial Crimes Commission.

Source: GN