Two Nigerians Extradited to the US Over Sextortion Scheme Linked to Teen Suicides — Full Breakdown
Three years after their arrest in Nigeria, two men accused of running sextortion schemes that prosecutors say drove two American teenage boys to suicide have finally been handed over to US authorities. Here’s the full story behind the headline.
The Announcement
FBI Director Kash Patel confirmed that Adebola Festus Adekunle, 26, and Mudashiru Afeez Olawale, 24, have been extradited from Nigeria to the United States to face prosecution over alleged sextortion crimes targeting minors. Patel described the pair as “two high-value targets” brought back to face justice, noting they had evaded American authorities for three years before the FBI and Department of Justice finally secured their return.
“Sextortion is a heinous crime targeting innocent people, often young children,” Patel said, adding that perpetrators typically deceive, intimidate, and threaten vulnerable young victims into compliance.
The handover was confirmed by Nigeria’s Economic and Financial Crimes Commission (EFCC), which said the two men were formally extradited on Wednesday, August 26, 2026.
The Allegations: A Scheme That Turned Deadly
According to the EFCC and the US Department of Justice, both men were identified through separate FBI investigations into sextortion schemes specifically targeting male minors between the ages of 13 and 17.
The alleged method: perpetrators would pose as young people online, build trust with victims through social media and messaging platforms, then manipulate them into sharing sexual images. Once obtained, that material classified legally as child sexual abuse material (CSAM) was allegedly used to blackmail the victims for money, with payments demanded through money remitters, gift cards, and cryptocurrency.
What makes this case especially harrowing is the outcome. FBI investigators say the schemes were directly linked to two separate cases in which American teenage boys died by suicide after being sexually exploited and extorted online one of them a minor in Mississippi. US Attorney General Todd Blanche noted that this case fits into a wider pattern the Justice Department has been tracking, describing sextortion networks as being “directly linked to dozens of American teen deaths by suicide” across the country.
