Popular cross-dresser, Idris Olanrewaju Okuneye, also known as Bobrisky has been sent to jail for six months without the option of paying a fine.
He got the sentence on Friday for misusing the country’s currency, the naira, News About Nigeria reports.
The judgement was delivered by Justice Abimbola Awogboro of the Federal High Court in Lagos. She said it was important to show others that messing with the naira is wrong.
The court found Bobrisky guilty of misusing the naira, last Friday. Recall that the Economic and Financial Crimes Commission (EFCC) accused him of four counts of naira misuse.
The EFCC initially had six charges against Bobrisky. But later, the commission decided to drop two of them. Mr. Sulaiman Sulaiman, the EFCC prosecutor, requested that counts five and six be struck out.
He said: “We have an agreement with the defendant that will lead us to withdraw counts 5 and 6. In the circumstances, we are humbly urging the court to strike out counts 5 and 6, leaving counts 1 to 4.”
As such, the court only focused on the four charges related to naira abuse.
In the courtroom, last week, Bobrisky admitted to misusing the naira but asked for mercy. He said he didn’t know it was against the law. However, the judge reminded him that not knowing the law doesn’t excuse breaking it.
Bobrisky requested another chance to educate his followers about the law.
He said: “My Lord, I wish that you can give me a second chance to use my platform to inform and educate my followers about spraying money.
“I’m a social media influencer with over five million followers. I would do a video on my page, and I will educate people about spraying money.
“I will not repeat it again, my lord. I regret my actions, my lord. I’m a first-time offender.”
His lawyer asked the judge to give Bobrisky a lighter punishment, like a fine, instead of jail time. The judge has however decided otherwise.
