EFCC Extradites Siblings To U.S.A To Face Prosecution | READ DETAILS
The Lagos Zonal Command of the Economic and Financial Crimes (EFCC), on Sunday, August 13, 2023, facilitated the extradition of Samuel Ogoshi and his brother, Samson, to the United States of America (U.S.A.), to face prosecution for allegedly s-exually extorting numerous young men and teenage boys in the Western District of Michigan and across the U.S.
The Commission had, sometime in May, 2023, initiated the extradition proceedings at the Federal High Court, Abuja Judicial Division, against the Ogoshis alongside one Ezekiel Ejemeh Robert over exploitation of minors and production of pornography, following a request by the U.S. Federal Bureau of Investigation, FBI.
The Ogoshis and Ezekiel were indicted in a United States Federal Court on December 1, 2022 on charges of exploitation of minors, resulting in death, conspiracy to sexu-ally exploit minors by causing the minors to produce child por-nographic images that the defendants now use to blackmail them.
They are further charged with conspiracy to distribute child porn-ography, which borders on sending images to minors, their families and friends, as well as conspiracy to commit stalking through the Internet.
The offences carry a minimum of five years and maximum 20 years imprisonment.
Specifically, Samuel was charged with causing the de-ath of 17-year-old Jordan DeMay of Marquette, Michigan, who died of a self-inflicted gunshot wound in March 2022.
According to the US Attorney for the Western District of Michigan, Mark Totten, Samuel used a hacked social media account to make contact with DeMay while pretending to be a young woman. After persuading DeMay to provide a sex-ually explicit photo of himself, he allegedly threatened to publicly release the image unless DeMay paid him.
“DeMay paid Ogoshi $300, but Ogoshi demanded more,” authorities said, and that after DeMay wrote that he was going to kill himself, Samuel allegedly responded, “Do that fast, or I’ll make you do it,” Totten said.
According to investigations, the suspects conspired to conduct a se-x-based extortion of minors and adults in the United States of America.
The trio allegedly hacked some social media accounts, posing to be young attractive women to entice unsuspecting victims to send their se-xually explicit photographs.
These pictures were then used to blackmail the victims, thereby forcing them into making huge financial payments.
While the Ogoshis were arrested sometime in February, 2023 around the Ojo axis of Lagos, Ezekiel was picked up in Nasarawa by operatives of the EFCC.
The extradition of the siblings followed a judgment by Justice Binta Nyako of the Federal High Court.
The Solicitor-General of the Federation signed the final surrender order authorising the US to bring the Ogoshis, who are 22 and 20 years old, to West Michigan, US.
The US Attorney for the Western District of Michigan, Mark Totten, said in a press release on Sunday that the arrest of the Ogoshis followed a joint investigation by the Federal Bureau of Investigation and the Economic and Financial Crimes Commission.
The suspects are now in federal custody in Michigan, according to the statement.
“I am extremely pleased with how swiftly extradition efforts moved forward and I am grateful to the FBI and our Nigerian law enforcement partners for their unyielding work to secure justice in this international sexual exploitation investigation,” Totten said in a release published on the website of the US attorney’s office.
The extradition of the third defendant, Robert, is, however, still pending.
