Alleged Cybercrime: Court Adjourns Trial Of Foreign Nationals
The trial of some foreigner nationals apprehended in December, 2024 by the Economic and Financial Crimes Commission (EFCC) on charges of cybercrime and cyber terrorism failed to progress on Monday as the interpreter arrived late in court.
The interpreter has the responsibility of translating the charge & the proceedings from English to Mandarin for the foreigners.
Trial judge, Justice Olayinka Faji had given the EFCC a strict 10am slot for the proceedings because the court had a full docket.
When the case was called, the prosecution counsel, Hannatu Kofarnaisa, told the court that the defendants had not been brought to court as at 10am, the court stood down the proceedings and moved on to other matters.
When the defendants arrived shortly after, the case was called a second time, and this time it was discovered that the interpreter was yet to arrive.
The court refused to grant a second stand down and proceeded to adjourn the matter. While the court was writing its directive for adjournment the interpreter arrived at about 10.48am.
When the prosecution counsel brought to the notice of the court the arrival of the interpreter, the judge wondered why there was a new interpreter after he had briefed the previous interpreter on how to behave and conduct the proceedings. The court insisted on maintaining consistency and sticking with the previous interpreter who was present at the arraignment of the foreigners.
One of the defence counsel, Nkereuwem Abraham, had also asked the court to adjourn trial to another date in order to comply with the provisions of the administration of Criminal Justice Act, 2015 which provides that every defendant must be give adequate facilities for his/her defence.
The court insisted, however, that from the time of arraignment till date, the counsel had enough time to prepare his defence.
The other defence counsel, Ayo Olaiya, told the court that he had a pending bail application for his clients.
Justice Faji has adjourned till March 4th & 5th for the commencement of trial and for hearing of the bail applications.
On Februry 6, the EFCC had arraigned ZHAO YING BIN, YU ZI- a.k.a. WEI XUEHUAN, ZHANG YANG, WANG ZHI CHENG and GENTING INTERNATIONAL CO. LIMITED for willfully causing to be accessed, computer systems organised to seriously destabilise the constitutional structure of Nigeria which prohibits and prevents cyber and related crimes employed Nigerian youths for identity theft and to hold themselves out as persons of foreign nationality with the intent to gain financial advantage.
The offence is punishable under section 18 of the Cybercrimes Prohibition Act, 2015. (Amended, 2024).
The anti-graft agency also alleged that ZHAO YING BIN, made a false statement by introducing himself as “Lisi Chuan” on his Telegram Account, knowing it to be false and with intent that the representation is relied upon for the purpose of procuring the issuance of financial instrument to your employer
According to EFCC the offence is punishable under Section 22(3) of the Cybercrimes (Prohibition, Prevention etc) Act.
