Two Nigerian men extradited to the United States have been charged over alleged sextortion schemes linked to the deaths of two teenage victims in Mississippi and North Carolina.
Adebola Festus Adekunle, 26, and Mudasiru Afeez Olawale, 24, were arrested in Nigeria in August 2023 during Operation Artemis, an international law-enforcement effort targeting sextortion networks operating from the country.
The pair were extradited to the US on Thursday, almost three years after their arrests. The charges allege that they targeted minors online and used threats involving intimate images to extort them.
Sextortion involves coercing or blackmailing a victim into sending explicit images or money, often after criminals have obtained private material through deception, hacking or manipulation. Offenders may also threaten to distribute the images or share personal information with other criminals.
Adekunle faces charges including the 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 accused of offences including the sexual exploitation of minors, coercion and enticement, and distributing child sexual abuse material.
If convicted, the men could face life imprisonment. The charge of sexual exploitation of a minor resulting in death carries a mandatory minimum sentence of 30 years in prison.
FBI director Kash Patel said: “They’ve been overseas for three years, but this FBI and our DOJ partners went and got them.”
“Sextortion is a heinous crime targeting innocent people, often young children – and this FBI will stop at nothing to pursue every single individual who harms vulnerable Americans,” he added.
The defendants are presumed innocent unless and until proved guilty in court.
The FBI warned earlier this month that criminals were targeting both children’s and adults’ social media accounts to steal sexually explicit images and videos for use in blackmail schemes.
In September 2021, the bureau reported a sharp rise in sextortion complaints and urged victims to stop communicating with offenders and contact law enforcement immediately.
