By Ebenezer Mabinuola
In a landmark ruling on Monday, June 23, 2025, two Federal High Court judges in Lagos sentenced six Chinese nationals to one year in prison for their roles in a major cyber-terrorism and internet fraud operation targeting Nigeria’s digital and economic infrastructure.
Justices D. I. Dipeolu and A. O. Faji of the Federal High Court in Ikoyi convicted Jia You (a.k.a. A. You), Wang Zheng Feng (a.k.a. Feng), Liu San Hua, Chen Wenyuan, Liu Beixing, and Wen Zong Xu (a.k.a. Li Long) after they changed their initial “not guilty” pleas to “guilty.”
The six were among 792 suspects arrested during “Operation Eagle Flush,” a December 2024 sting by the Economic and Financial Crimes Commission (EFCC) targeting a transnational cybercrime syndicate involved in cryptocurrency scams and romance fraud.
The EFCC’s Lagos Zonal Directorate 1 arraigned the defendants in February 2025 on charges including cyber-terrorism and internet fraud. One charge accused Jia You of “unauthorized access to computer systems to destabilize Nigeria’s economy,” under the Cybercrimes Act (2015, amended 2024) and the Terrorism Prevention Act (2022).
Following their guilty pleas, EFCC prosecutors sought immediate sentencing. The court sentenced each man to one year in prison, retroactive to their arrest on December 19, 2024, and imposed a ₦1 million fine on each.
All six are to be deported within seven days of completing their sentences. Seized items—including phones, laptops, and routers—were forfeited to the Nigerian government.
