Two Nigerian nationals have been extradited to the United States to face federal charges over financially motivated “sextortion” schemes that led to the suicides of American teenagers.
Adebola Festus Adekunle, 26, and Mudasiru Afeez Olawale, 24, were handed over to US federal agents in Nigeria on Wednesday before appearing in separate US district courts on Thursday.
US authorities allege both men targeted minors online, threatening them with blackmail and coercion, in cases that ultimately resulted in the deaths of teenagers in Mississippi and North Carolina.
High-profile extraditions
Mr Adekunle appeared before a federal court in Oxford, Mississippi, charged with sexual exploitation of a minor resulting in death, coercion, enticement, and sending interstate threats with intent to extort.
Mr Olawale appeared in Greensboro, North Carolina, facing similar charges, including sexual exploitation of minors resulting in death and distribution of child pornography.
Both men face a mandatory minimum of 30 years in prison if convicted on the primary charge of child exploitation resulting in death, with maximum sentences extending to life imprisonment.
According to the US Department of Justice, both suspects were arrested in Nigeria in August 2023 following a joint operation involving the FBI, Nigeria’s Economic and Financial Crimes Commission (EFCC), and the Nigerian Ministry of Justice.
FBI Crackdown on West African Networks
The extraditions form part of “Operation Artemis,” an FBI initiative aimed at dismantling organized sexual extortion rings operating out of Nigeria.
US officials say financially motivated sextortion—where perpetrators trick or coerce victims into sending explicit photos before demanding money under threat of exposing them—has been linked to dozens of teenage suicides across the country.
“Two Nigerian subjects arrested in Nigeria in 2023 have now been returned to the United States to face justice,” FBI Director Kash Patel said in a statement, warning that international borders would not shield offenders.
US Attorney General Todd Blanche praised Nigerian law enforcement authorities for their assistance in facilitating the foreign transfer of custody.
Both defendants are presumed innocent until proven guilty in a court of law.
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