March 24, (THEWILL) – A Convicted Nigerian fugitive, Florence Enwerim Onyegbu, has been extradited to the United States on Thursday, March 23, 2023.
Onyegbu has been declared wanted in the US to answer criminal charges involving the offer and payment of illegal remuneration in a health care matter.
Her extradition was coordinated by the Economic and Financial Crimes Commission (EFCC), following a request by the US Federal Bureau of Investigation (FBI), seeking assistance for her apprehension.
The Commission had carried out an investigation on her and discovered that she changed her name from Florence E. Onyegbu to Janet Boi, in an attempt to remain hidden.
The anti-graft agency in a statement by its Spokesperson, Wilson Uwujaren, said she ran out of luck, when EFCC operatives swooped on her at her residence in the Ojodu area of Lagos on February 21, 2022.
When she was arrested, a national identity card with the name Janet Boi, as well as a Texas driver’s licence bearing the name Florence Enwerim Onyegbu were in her possession.
On March 22, 2023, EFCC handed her over the FBI, following an extradition order granted by Justice Z.B. Abubakar of the Federal High Court sitting in Abuja, on December 2, 2022.
Onyegbu was first arrested on February 12, 2011 in the U.S. and subsequently sentenced to 46 months imprisonment.
This was following a guilty plea over the violation of the U.S. Law bordering on the offer and payment of illegal remuneration in a health care matter.
Although she was ordered to report for service of her sentence on April 4, 2011, she failed to surrender on that date.
Onyegbu was further charged with failure to surrender for service of sentence in violation of U.S. Law on March 4, 2013.
