By Sunday Ameh
Two Nigerian men have been extradited to the United States to face federal charges over alleged financially motivated sextortion schemes targeting American minors, with prosecutors linking the cases to the deaths of teenagers by suicide.
The suspects, identified as 26-year-old Adebola Festus Adekunle of Lagos and 24-year-old Mudasiru Afeez Olawale, were arrested in Nigeria in August 2023 during Operation Artemis, an FBI-led investigation into sextortion networks operating from Nigeria.
According to the US Department of Justice, both men were taken into US custody on August 27, 2026, before appearing separately in federal courts in Mississippi and North Carolina.
Adekunle appeared before a federal court in Oxford, Mississippi, while Olawale was arraigned in Greensboro, North Carolina.
US prosecutors allege that Adekunle was involved in the sexual exploitation and extortion of minors, including conduct allegedly connected to the death of a victim.
He faces charges including sexual exploitation of a minor resulting in death, production of child sexual abuse material, coercion and enticement of a minor, and interstate threats with intent to extort.
Olawale is facing separate charges relating to the alleged sexual exploitation of minors resulting in death, enticement of minors, interstate threatening communications and distribution of child sexual abuse material.
If convicted, both men could face life imprisonment, while charges involving sexual exploitation resulting in death carry a mandatory minimum sentence of 30 years.
The cases stem from a wider US investigation into financially motivated sextortion, in which perpetrators allegedly threaten minors with the release of intimate images or demand money and additional sexual material.
US authorities said investigations into such networks have linked sextortion schemes to dozens of teenage deaths by suicide.
FBI Director Kash Patel said the extradition demonstrated that suspects operating outside the United States could still be brought before American courts.
“They’ve been overseas for three years, but this FBI and our DOJ partners went and got them,” Patel said.
The US authorities said Operation Artemis involved FBI agents, analysts and forensic experts working with Nigerian authorities to identify and apprehend individuals allegedly involved in sextortion networks targeting American minors.
The Justice Department credited Nigerian authorities, including the Attorney-General of the Federation and Minister of Justice, the Federal Ministry of Justice’s International Criminal Justice Cooperation Department and the Economic and Financial Crimes Commission, with assisting the extradition process.
The development underscores increasing cooperation between Nigerian and US law-enforcement agencies in tackling cyber-enabled crimes that cross international borders.
However, the allegations against Adekunle and Olawale have not been proven in court. Both suspects are presumed innocent unless and until they are found guilty beyond reasonable doubt.
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