The United States Federal Bureau of Investigation (FBI) has brought two Nigerian nationals, Adebola Festus Adekunle and Mudasiru Afeez Olawale, to the United States to face prosecution over alleged sextortion schemes targeting minors.
The FBI Director, Kash Patel, described the two men as “high-value targets” who were returned to U.S. soil after spending about three years in Nigeria following their arrests in 2023.
The U.S. Department of Justice said Adekunle, 26, was extradited to face charges arising from an alleged financially motivated sextortion scheme involving a Mississippi minor, which prosecutors said resulted in the child’s death.
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, 24, was separately extradited to face charges relating to the alleged sextortion of minors, including a case involving the death of a teenage victim in North Carolina.
He faces charges relating to sexual exploitation of minors, coercion and enticement, interstate threatening communications and distribution of child pornography, according to the U.S. Department of Justice.
The two suspects were arrested in Nigeria in August 2023 as part of a wider FBI operation targeting individuals allegedly involved in financially motivated sextortion of minors in the United States.
The U.S. authorities said the cases form part of Operation Artemis, an FBI initiative targeting sextortion networks operating from Nigeria and other locations.
The operation has involved cooperation between American and Nigerian law enforcement agencies.
The Economic and Financial Crimes Commission (EFCC) facilitated the extradition of the two men from Nigeria, with the U.S. Justice Department acknowledging the assistance of Nigeria’s Attorney-General of the Federation and Minister of Justice, the Federal Ministry of Justice and the EFCC.
Patel said the alleged offences included sexual exploitation of minors, coercion and enticement, extortion, and the production and distribution of child sexual abuse material.
“Sextortion is a heinous crime targeting innocent people, often young children,” the FBI Director said, stressing that international borders would not shield those accused of exploiting vulnerable victims.
The two men were extradited to the United States on August 27, 2026, and subsequently appeared separately before federal courts in Mississippi and North Carolina.
The U.S. Justice Department stressed that the charges are allegations and that both defendants are presumed innocent unless and until proven guilty beyond a reasonable doubt in court.
In line with American law, if convicted of the death-related sexual exploitation charge, they are looking at at least 30 years in a U.S. federal prison, and potentially life imprisonment.
