EFCC arraigns ‘Adeherself’ for possession of fraudulent documents, weeks after she was arrested for being a ‘picker’

The Economic and Financial Crimes Commission (EFCC) has arraigned a Nigerian internet sensation, Adedamola Adewale popularly known as ‘Adeherself’ about a month after her arrest.

According to the anti-corruption agency, Adewale was arraigned before Justice Sherifat Solebo of the Special Offence Court in Ikeja, Lagos on one-count charge of “possession of fraudulent documents”.

Neusroom had reported that 20-year-old Adewale, who is popular on the internet for her comedy skits, was arrested on June 15, 2020 alongside one Lamina Hamzat Ajibola who is said to be her accomplice.

In a Twitter statement on June 15, EFCC had said “during interrogation, Adewale, a self-acclaimed model, who goes by the username @adeherself on Instagram, confessed to being a “picker” in cybercrimes.”

A picker is an accomplice who may not be directly involved in the scam process, but provides a bank account that receives money from a victim on behalf of the fraudster.

Barely a month after, EFCC says it is prosecuting Adewale for possession of fraudulent WhatsApp documents.

The count against her read that “Adewale with the intent to defraud, had in your possession documents titled “WhatsApp” which representations you knew or ought to have known, was false and thereby committed an offence contrary to Section 6 (8)(b) and 1 (3)(d) of the Advance Fee Fraud and Other Fraud Related Offences Act No. 14 of 2006.”

She pleaded not guilty to the charge and has been remanded in EFCC custody pending when her bail application will be heard on Monday July 13, 2020.

Meanwhile, some Twitter users have been expressing concerns over the change in the charge against the internet sensation and wondered if the anti-corruption agency did not do proper investigation before parading Adewale as a ‘picker’ alongside other suspects in June.

A Journalist, Chuks Akunna tweeted: “Mid-last month, EFCC said it arrested internet fraudsters including @adeherself, who confessed to being a “picker” usually posing “as a lady to hoodwink her foreign prey”. A lady posing as a lady? The charge has changed to possessing documents called ” WhatsApp”. How dumb!”

Another Twitter user with the handle @Emmanue41720182 wrote “From the ‘one count charge’ filed against Adeherself it’s already clear the direction the case is heading. As always it was bungled by premature arrest in lieu of sound investigations. I doubt EFCC can proof anything or gather any more evidence to successfully prosecute the case.”