Nollywood actress Oluwadarasimi Omoseyin Esther has been sentenced to six months in jail by the Federal High Court for spraying and stepping on the new naira notes at a social event in Lagos State. 

The Economic and Financial Crimes Commission (EFCC) disclosed this in a statement released on its official page on Thursday. 

The 31-year-old actress was arrested by operatives of the Independent Corrupt Practices and Other Related Offences Commission (ICPC) on February 1, 2023, along Awolowo Road, Ikoyi, Lagos, after the video of her spraying and stepping on the newly redesigned naira notes at a party surfaced online.

In the video, she was also seen flaunting a bundle of the new currency. 

According to the report filed in court, Ms 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 at the said occasion and thereby committed an offence contrary to and punishable under Section 21(1) of the Central Bank Act, 2007.”

The actress was first put on trial on February 13, 2023, by the commission, Lagos zonal command, on two-count charges, to which she pleaded ‘not guilty’ and was later released on bail. 

However, on the resumption of the court hearing on Thursday, the actress changed her ‘not guilty’ plea to ‘guilty’, having seen the massive evidence against her. 

Z.B. Atiku, the prosecution counsel, called on Abubakar Mohammed Marafa, an operative of the EFCC, to review the facts of the matter as a result of the accused’s ‘guilty plea’. 

Mr Abubakar told the court, “the defendant was arrested by officers of the ICPC on February 1, 2023, and was handed over to the Commission on February 2, 2023, for further investigation.”

Also informing the court that the defendant’s statements where she revealed that she had sprayed N200 and N100 at a friend’s wedding she attended on January 28 were taken into notice. 

He added that, “The defendant was processed, and the videos of where she sprayed the money were found on her phone. Also, further investigations were carried out, and the management of the event centre was invited. They also brought in the video footage of the said event.”

Meanwhile, letters from the ICPC and other accompanying documents, including forensic report of her phone, a CD of videos showing her spraying the Naira notes, a flash drive from the event centre together with the statement of the representative of the centre, were tendered as evidence by the prosecution counsel, which Justice Aneke admitted as exhibits. 

Following the evidence admitted as exhibits, the defence counsel, Afuye Adegbola, pleaded for leniency on the basis that “she’s a first-time offender; she is a mother of one; she is remorseful and pleads for mercy.”

He also pleaded for a non-custodial sentence on behalf of the convict. 

The judge sentenced the actress to six months imprisonment, effective from Thursday, with an option of N3,000 fine to be paid into the consolidated revenue account of the federation.