US Extradites Two Nigerians Over Sextortion, Teen Deaths

WASHINGTON — Two Nigerians, Adebola Festus Adekunle, 26, and Mudasiru Afeez Olawale, 24, have been extradited from Nigeria to the United States to face federal charges over alleged financially motivated sextortion schemes targeting American minors.

The U.S. Department of Justice announced the extraditions on Friday, Aug. 28, 2026, saying Adekunle and Olawale were separately arrested in Nigeria in August 2023 following investigations by the Federal Bureau of Investigation (FBI).

Adekunle was extradited to the United States on Thursday, Aug. 27, and appeared before a federal court in Oxford, Mississippi, on Friday, according to the U.S. Attorney’s Office for the Northern District of Mississippi.

Olawale was also extradited on Aug. 27 and appeared before a federal court in Greensboro, North Carolina, on Aug. 28.

Adekunle, a Lagos resident, faces a three-count federal indictment relating to the alleged 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. The U.S. Justice Department said the Mississippi case involves the death of a teenage victim.

Olawale was indicted in August 2023 on charges relating to the alleged sexual exploitation of two minors, coercion and enticement, distribution of child pornography and interstate threatening communications. U.S. authorities said the North Carolina case involves the death of a teenager.

The U.S. Justice Department said the extraditions were coordinated by its Office of International Affairs, the FBI Legal Attaché Office in Abuja and FBI agents who travelled to Nigeria to take the suspects into U.S. custody.

It specifically acknowledged the support of Nigeria’s Attorney-General and Minister of Justice, the Federal Ministry of Justice’s International Criminal Justice Cooperation Department and the Economic and Financial Crimes Commission, describing the assistance of Nigerian authorities as essential to the extradition process.

FBI Director Kash Patel, in a statement on Friday, described Adekunle and Olawale as “two high-value targets” returned to the United States to face justice.

“Two Nigerian subjects arrested in Nigeria in 2023 – Adebola Festus Adekunle and Mudasiru Afeez Olawale – have now been returned to the United States,” Patel said.

He said the two men were allegedly involved in financially motivated sextortion of minors, adding that one of the alleged schemes resulted in the death of a child.

“They’ve been overseas for three years but this FBI and our DOJ partners went and got them,” Patel said.

Patel described sextortion as “a heinous crime targeting innocent people, often young children,” and said the FBI would continue to pursue individuals accused of exploiting vulnerable Americans.

In the North Carolina case, FBI Special Agent in Charge Reid Davis said financially motivated sextortion could inflict lasting emotional and psychological harm on victims and their families.

“The extradition of this suspect proves the FBI’s commitment to pursue those who exploit vulnerable individuals, wherever they may be, and ensures they are held accountable for the profound and lasting damage they cause,” Davis said.

U.S. Attorney General Todd Blanche said the two suspects were arrested in Nigeria as part of a wider FBI operation targeting alleged sexual extortionists preying on minors in the United States.

He said the U.S. had strengthened international law-enforcement partnerships to dismantle foreign criminal networks allegedly involved in financially motivated sextortion and child sexual exploitation.

The U.S. Justice Department said the cases are part of Operation Artemis, an FBI initiative targeting financially motivated sextortion networks operating from Nigeria.

According to the department, the FBI deployed agents, analysts and forensic experts to Nigeria in cooperation with domestic and international law-enforcement partners to confront perpetrators of the alleged schemes, which have been directly linked to dozens of American teenagers who died by suicide.

The FBI said financially motivated sextortion generally involves offenders using deception, threats and manipulation to obtain intimate images from victims and subsequently demanding money or other benefits under threats of exposure.

The U.S. authorities said the charges against Adekunle and Olawale are allegations and that both defendants are presumed innocent unless and until proven guilty beyond reasonable doubt in court.