…Nigeria-U.S. cooperation delivers alleged child predators to American courts
A three-year international manhunt for two Nigerian nationals accused of running financially motivated sextortion schemes against American minors has ended with their transfer from Nigeria to the United States, where they now face federal charges carrying potential life imprisonment.
The U.S. Department of Justice said Adebola Festus Adekunle, 26, and Mudasiru Afeez Olawale, 24, were extradited from Nigeria to the United States on August 27 after their arrests in Nigeria in August 2023 during an FBI operation targeting sextortion networks allegedly operating from the country.
The development represents a significant expansion of Nigeria-U.S. law-enforcement cooperation against transnational cyber-enabled crimes, particularly offences targeting children.
Adekunle, a Lagos resident, is accused of participating in the financially motivated sextortion of a Mississippi minor whose death followed the alleged exploitation. He is facing federal charges including sexual exploitation of a minor resulting in death, production of child sexual abuse material, coercion and enticement of a minor, and interstate threats made with intent to extort.
Olawale is facing separate charges in North Carolina over the alleged sextortion of two minors, including a case involving the death of one victim.
The U.S. authorities said both suspects appeared before federal courts following their arrival in the country.
The allegations expose the increasingly international character of online child exploitation, where perpetrators can operate thousands of kilometres away from their victims while using digital platforms to threaten, manipulate and extort them.
The U.S. Justice Department said the two cases were products of Operation Artemis, an FBI surge targeting financially motivated sextortion rings operating from Nigeria.
As part of the operation, FBI personnel, analysts and forensic specialists were deployed to Nigeria to identify suspects and gather evidence against networks accused of targeting minors in the United States.
U.S. Attorney General Todd Blanche said the American government was determined to dismantle foreign criminal networks involved in financially motivated sextortion and prosecute those responsible for child exploitation.
FBI Director Kash Patel said the latest operation demonstrated the agency’s determination to pursue alleged perpetrators regardless of where they were located.
The suspects had remained outside the United States for about three years after their indictments, but U.S. investigators continued working with Nigerian authorities to secure their transfer.
The Justice Department acknowledged the critical role played by Nigerian authorities in the operation, particularly 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 (EFCC).
The cooperation, according to U.S. authorities, ultimately enabled FBI personnel to travel to Nigeria and take the suspects into American custody.
The Mississippi investigation involved the FBI Jackson Field Office, its Violent Crimes Against Children Section and International Operations Division, as well as the Lowndes County Sheriff’s Office.
The North Carolina case was investigated by FBI Charlotte’s Greensboro Resident Agency and the Surry County Sheriff’s Office.
The American authorities described sextortion as a crime capable of inflicting severe psychological and emotional damage on victims and their families.
The FBI has also linked financially motivated sextortion investigations to numerous American teenage deaths by suicide, prompting an intensified national and international campaign against the crime.
For Nigeria, the case highlights the growing importance of international cooperation in combating cyber-enabled criminal networks whose victims and financial targets are often located outside the country.
The extradition also sends a warning to suspected perpetrators that operating from another country may delay prosecution but does not necessarily prevent eventual transfer to the jurisdiction where alleged crimes occurred.
Adekunle and Olawale face maximum penalties of life imprisonment if convicted, while the sexual exploitation resulting in death charges carry a mandatory minimum sentence of 30 years.
However, the U.S. Justice Department stressed that the charges against both men are allegations and that they remain presumed innocent unless proven guilty beyond a reasonable doubt
