By Ikechukwu Nnochiri
ABUJA—Following an application by the Inspector General of Police (IGP), Tunji Disu, the Federal High Court in Abuja has issued a warrant for the arrest and extradition of a United Kingdom-based radiographer, Immaculata Ikenwankwor, to face cybercrime-related charges in Nigeria.
The court, in a ruling delivered by Justice James Omotosho, directed that the defendant be placed on Interpol Red Notice and also the watch list of the Nigeria Immigration Service (NIS).
“That an order of this honourable court is hereby made remanding the defendant in the custody of the complainant/applicant for a period of 14 days upon her arrest, pending the conclusion of investigation of the offences she is suspected to have committed and possible prosecution.
“That this order granted shall become invalid 14 days after the arrest of the defendant,” the court held.
The IGP, through a team of police lawyers led by N. O. Eleodimuo, brought an ex-parte application before the court marked FHC/ABJ/CS/1507/2026, wherein he sought a warrant for the arrest of the defendant, whom he said “has become incommunicado since the commission of this crime.”
In an affidavit in support of the application, deposed to by Oluwatosin Ayoola, the IGP told the court that there is a pending charge against the defendant.
“That the office has received intelligence that the defendant is at large.
“That this application will be worthless if granted later, when the defendant might have been out of reach or might have eloped to another country,” the supporting affidavit, dated July 13, further read.
In a six-count charge he filed before the High Court of the Federal Capital Territory (FCT), Abuja, the IGP alleged that Ms. Ikenwankwor had, sometime between January 2026 and March 2026, “sent an electronic message through a computer system, mobile device, and WhatsApp platform, via +23407032055889 and +447448042937, over an electronic communication network — a message of a grossly offensive, threatening and menacing character.”
She was said to have committed an offence contrary to Section 24(1)(a) of the Cybercrimes (Prohibition, Prevention, etc.) Act, 2015 (as amended, 2024).
Besides, the defendant was alleged to have threatened to kill, an offence contrary to Section 396 and punishable under Section 397 of the Penal Code 2004, as well as to have engaged in blackmail, an offence contrary to Section 24 of the Cybercrimes (Prohibition, Prevention, etc.) Act, 2015 (as amended, 2024).
Justice O. A. Musa of the High Court had, on July 2, sentenced the defendant to 22 years in prison after she was found guilty of contempt.
The court stressed that, upon her arrest, she should be remanded at the Suleja Correctional Facility to serve her sentence, even as it issued a bench warrant directing the Director-General of the State Security Service (SSS) and the IGP to immediately apprehend the defendant “wherever she may be found within the territorial jurisdiction of Nigeria.”
The court also directed the Comptroller-General of the NIS to place her bio-data and details of her international passport on the National Security Watchlist and “No Fly List” across all international and domestic air, land, and sea ports within the Federal Republic of Nigeria.
Justice Musa further ordered the Attorney-General of the Federation and the INTERPOL National Central Bureau (NCB) Abuja to immediately transmit the bench warrant of the court to the United Kingdom.
Source: Vanguard News
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