Two Nigerians Extradited To US Over Sextortion Of Minors Linked To Teen Deaths
Financially motivated sextortion targeting children has crossed borders, but US authorities say international boundaries will not protect those accused of driving the deadly schemes.
Two Nigerian nationals have been extradited from Nigeria to the United States to face charges over alleged sextortion of minors in separate cases in Mississippi and North Carolina, including cases linked to the deaths of teenagers.
The US Department of Justice said Adebola Festus Adekunle, 26, of Lagos, and Mudasiru Afeez Olawale, 24, were arrested in Nigeria in August 2023 during an FBI operation targeting sextortion networks operating from Nigeria.
Adekunle appeared in federal court in Oxford, Mississippi, on Friday.
He faces charges including sexual exploitation of a minor resulting in death, coercion and enticement of a minor, and interstate threats with intent to extort.
The child-exploitation charge carries a minimum sentence of 30 years and a maximum of life imprisonment if convicted.
Olawale, who appeared before a federal magistrate in Greensboro, North Carolina, faces charges relating to the alleged sexual exploitation and enticement of minors, threatening communications and distribution of child sexual abuse material.
He is also accused of involvement in sextortion linked to the death of a minor.
The DOJ said both men were extradited on August 27 with assistance from its Office of International Affairs, the FBI Legal Attaché in Abuja and FBI agents who travelled to Nigeria to take them into US custody.
Nigerian authorities, including the Attorney-General of the Federation and Minister of Justice, the Federal Ministry of Justice’s International Criminal Justice Cooperation Department and the Economic and Financial Crimes Commission, supported the operation.
The cases form part of Operation Artemis, an FBI campaign targeting financially motivated sextortion rings operating from Nigeria.
US authorities say such schemes have been linked to dozens of American teen deaths by suicide.
The defendants are presumed innocent until proven guilty in court.
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