Nigerian fugitive Onyegbu extradited to US

Florence Enwerem Onyegbu, a Nigerian fugitive with a prior conviction, has been extradited to the United States for violating US law.

The US Federal Bureau of Investigation (FBI) requested her arrest and the Economic and Financial Crimes Commission (EFCC) confirmed her capture on February 21, 2022, at her residence in the Ojodu area of Lagos.

The EFCC revealed that Onyegbu had changed her name to Janet Boi to evade detection, but the anti-graft agency’s investigation uncovered her identity. She is wanted in the US to answer questions relating to the illegal offer and payment of remuneration in a healthcare case.

Onyegbu was found with a Texas driver’s license bearing her true name and a national identity card with the name Janet Boi upon her arrest. On March 22, 2023, the EFCC handed over Onyegbu to the FBI following an extradition order granted by Justice Z.B. Abubakar of the Federal High Court in Abuja on December 2, 2022.

Onyegbu’s legal troubles began in 2011 when she was arrested and sentenced to 46 months in prison after pleading guilty to violating US law in connection with the illegal offer and payment of remuneration in a healthcare case. She was ordered to report for her sentence on April 4, 2011, but failed to do so, resulting in additional charges for violating US law by failing to surrender for service of sentence on March 4, 2013.