By Two Nigerian men accused of running online sextortion schemes that authorities say drove American teenagers to suicide have now stood before US courts to answer the charges against them, closing out a legal process that dragged on for roughly three years. Adebola Festus Adekunle, 26, of Lagos, and Mudasiru Afeez Olawale, 24, both appeared in federal court this week following their extradition from Nigeria on August 27.
The arraignment details
Adekunle made his initial appearance in federal court in Oxford, Mississippi, where he faces charges of sexual exploitation of a minor resulting in death, coercion and enticement of a minor, and interstate threats with intent to extort.
Olawale appeared separately before US Magistrate Judge L. Patrick Auld in Greensboro, North Carolina, on a seven-count indictment covering sexual exploitation of a minor resulting in death, enticement of a minor, interstate threatening communications, and distribution of child sexual abuse material. Both men face a maximum penalty of life in prison, with the charges tied to a minor’s death carrying a mandatory minimum sentence of 30 years.
How the men ended up in US custody
Adekunle and Olawale were arrested in Nigeria in August 2023 as part of Operation Artemis, an FBI-led surge targeting financially motivated sextortion networks operating out of the country. According to the Economic and Financial Crimes Commission, investigators traced Adekunle’s alleged activity to a case involving a 13-year-old boy who was approached on Instagram, persuaded into exchanging images, then threatened with exposure unless he paid up. The EFCC noted that the pressure on the teenager reportedly continued even after he expressed suicidal thoughts, a detail investigators on both sides have pointed to as evidence of how calculated the scheme was.
Olawale’s route to extradition took longer to clear. The EFCC’s attempt to extradite him ran into an initial setback in June 2024, when Justice A. Lewis-Allagoa of the Federal High Court in Lagos declined the request. The Office of the Attorney-General of the Federation appealed, and the Court of Appeal’s Lagos Division overturned that ruling this past July, finally opening the door for his transfer.
What officials are saying about the case
US Attorney General Todd Blanche described the extraditions as part of a broader push to dismantle foreign sextortion networks that the Department of Justice has linked to dozens of teen suicides across the country. FBI Director Kash Patel, who publicised the arrests on X, called the pair “high-value targets” and noted they had evaded US custody for three years before being brought back to face trial. Prosecutors in both districts, US Attorney Scott Leary in Mississippi and US Attorney Dan Bishop in North Carolina, credited years of multi-agency investigation, along with cooperation from Nigeria’s Attorney General and Ministry of Justice, with finally bringing the case to court.
The EFCC has framed the arraignments as another example of its working relationship with the FBI on cross-border financial crime and child exploitation cases, a partnership it says continues to deliver results even in cases that take years to resolve.
All charges remain allegations at this stage, and both men are presumed innocent unless proven guilty in a court of law.
