Actress Omoseyin sentenced to six months in prison for spraying, stepping on new Naira notes

Justice Chukwujekwu Aneke of the Federal High Court in Ikoyi, Lagos, handed down a six-month prison sentence to Oluwadarasimi Omoseyin, an actress, on Thursday. The conviction was based on her act of spraying and stepping on new Naira notes during a social event in Lagos, as reported by the Economic and Financial Crimes Commission (EFCC) in a statement.

The EFCC disclosed that Omoseyin was initially arraigned on February 13, 2023, on two charges, to which she pleaded “not guilty” and was subsequently granted bail on February 15, 2023.

One of the charges read: “That you, Oluwadarasimi Omoseyin, on the 28th day of January 2023, at Monarch Event Centre, Lekki, Lagos, within the jurisdiction of this Honourable Court, whilst dancing during a social occasion tampered with the sum of N100,000.00 (One Hundred Thousand Naira) issued by the Central Bank of Nigeria by spraying same in the said occasion and you thereby committed an offence contrary to and punishable under Section 21(1) of the Central Bank Act, 2007.”

During Thursday’s hearing, Omoseyin changed her plea to “guilty” due to overwhelming evidence. The prosecution counsel, Z.B. Atiku, presented Abubakar Mohammed Marafa, an EFCC operative, to review the case’s facts. Marafa highlighted that the defendant was arrested by the Independent Corrupt Practices and Other Related Offences Commission (ICPC) on February 1, 2023, and later handed over to the EFCC for further investigation.

Marafa detailed that Omoseyin admitted to spraying Naira notes at a friend’s wedding, and videos of the incident were found on her phone. The event center’s management provided video footage of the event as part of the investigation.

The prosecution then tendered various documents, including the ICPC letter, the defendant’s statement, a forensic report of her phone, a CD with videos, a flash drive from the event center, and the representative’s statement.

Justice Aneke admitted these documents as exhibits, convicted Omoseyin as charged, and sentenced her to six months in prison, effective immediately. The judge provided an alternative of a N300,000.00 (Three Hundred Thousand Naira) fine, payable into the consolidated revenue account of the federation.

Omoseyin’s arrest occurred after a video of her engaging in the mentioned activities with the new Naira notes circulated online. She claimed to have received the money from unidentified fans at the party. Alongside the prison sentence, a Range Rover was among the items recovered from her at the time of arrest.