Court jails man impersonating Nollywood actor; Mike Ezuruonye

Justice P.I. Ajoku of the Federal High Court, Benin, Edo State has sentenced one Ekoh Noel, the man who impersonated Nollywood actor, Mike Ezuruonye, in a social media scam.

The Economic and Financial Crimes Commission (EFCC) revealed this on Monday, where it said Noel fraudulently obtained N12.4 million through the scam.

A tweet via the commission’s handle read: “Ekoh Noel, who impersonated ace Nollywood actor, Mike Ezuruonye on Facebook to fraudulently obtain N12.4million from his victim has been sentenced to one year in prison by Justice P.I. Ajoku of a Fed High Court, Benin, Edo State.”

Ekoh Noel, who impersonated ace Nollywood actor, Mike Ezuruonye on Facebook to fraudulently obtain N12.4million from his victim has been sentenced to one year in prison by Justice P. I. Ajoku of a Fed High Court, Benin, Edo State. #WeFightForYou https://t.co/ltVpZ6IcV2

— EFCC Nigeria (@officialEFCC) September 24, 2018

The EFCC had also posted a tweet where the actor had commended the commission, which read: “Nollywood actor Mike Ezuruonye commends #TheEagle in Benin for helping to nab impersonators who used his name for romance scams,” quoting Ezuruonye as stating that ‘It’s amazing that these women have come to believe that I am the one. They even use my picture, voice and old videos to defraud people’.”

Speaking in a recent interview with Pulse, the actor had earlier come out to announce how he had gotten death threats from boyfriends and husbands, because of fraudsters using his face.

He said: “It’s so so sad, I have gotten death threats from people, I have gotten from husbands of these people, boyfriends of these people, maybe because of the way I deal with it you know, that’s another thing.

“The EFCC in Benin have been so helpful, I mean, it is really really bad. I have seen five people caught. There was a time it was so much the Inspector General of Police’s office got my account investigated. I was invited to the IGP’s office in Abuja, it was that bad.”