A 19-year-old Nigerian student has been sentenced to seven years in prison in the United Kingdom after being convicted of robbery, blackmail and assault offences. Oluwatobiloba Akinrinola was sentenced at Leicester Crown Court on Monday, 27 July 2026, alongside another man whose prison term brought their combined sentences to 18 years.
The case concerns specific criminal convictions and does not introduce any new law or immigration rule affecting Nigerian students in the UK. However, it highlights how videos posted on social media can become evidence during a police investigation and criminal trial.
Akinrinola, of Slippers Place in Southwark, London, received a seven-year prison sentence. His co-defendant, 20-year-old Richile Vangu, was sentenced to 11 years in custody, with an additional three-year extended licence period.
Party guests threatened and robbed
The offences followed an open party at a property in North Kilworth, Leicestershire, during the early hours of 21 November 2025. Police said the event had been advertised on Snapchat before several men arrived and began threatening those attending.
According to Leicestershire Police, Vangu threatened partygoers with a knife and demanded designer clothes and money. Some victims were forced to transfer funds to his bank account, while others were made to dance as they were recorded on a mobile phone.
The court heard that Vangu initially demanded £1,000 from each victim. Those who said they could not pay were reportedly instructed to visit another property in Bath Lane, Leicester, later that day.
Police said some of the victims went to the address and transferred money. Further violence then followed, including punching, whipping with a belt and the firing of a BB gun at victims. A BB gun is an air-powered weapon that fires small metal or plastic pellets.
Parts of the abuse were filmed and uploaded to social media. Officers later used the recordings during their investigation.
Vangu was arrested in London on 27 November after investigators were told that he used the name “Trixta” on TikTok. Akinrinola and two other suspects were arrested between 3 and 15 December.
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Akinrinola convicted of 15 offences
Following a trial at Leicester Crown Court, Akinrinola was found guilty of nine counts of blackmail, four counts of robbery and two counts of causing actual bodily harm. He was cleared of one further blackmail charge.
Blackmail involves making an unwarranted demand and using threats to pressure another person into handing over money, property or another benefit.
Actual bodily harm, often shortened to ABH in the UK, is an assault that causes an injury more serious than minor or temporary harm.
Vangu was convicted of four robbery offences, ten blackmail offences and one count of actual bodily harm. He had previously admitted a second actual bodily harm offence involving another victim.
Punch, citing court reporting, said Judge Steven Evans found that Vangu planned the robbery and recruited others to take part. The judge described Akinrinola as “subservient” to Vangu but said he played an “essential part” in the crimes.
The judge reportedly described some of the treatment suffered by the victims as “torture” and humiliation.
Two other 19-year-old defendants, Benjamin Osadolor of Northampton and Ayomide Ibraheem of London, were found not guilty of all the charges against them.
Police say videos helped expose offences
Detective Constable Adam Battley, who worked on the investigation, said the offenders appeared to believe they were above the law and could exploit other people without facing consequences.
“The fact that they even filmed themselves carrying out their crimes and posted some videos on social media shows that they thought their actions didn’t matter,” he said after the convictions.
The officer said he hoped the outcome would give the victims a sense of justice after the harm they experienced.
The case adds to other reports involving Nigerians jailed in Britain, although each case must be judged separately on its own evidence and circumstances.
Parents maintain their son was wrongly convicted
Before sentencing, Akinrinola’s parents, Aderinkola and Olayinka Akinrinola, appealed to the British authorities to review the conviction. They maintained that their son was innocent and claimed the case against him depended mainly on his association with Vangu.
They said Akinrinola met Vangu after beginning his studies in Leicester in September 2025 and described the two men as acquaintances.
The family claimed their son attended the party but did not participate in the robbery or receive any stolen property. They also said no stolen items were recovered from his home and alleged that investigators found no transfers from victims in his bank accounts.
Those were claims made by the family. A jury nevertheless convicted Akinrinola after hearing the evidence presented during the trial, and Leicester Crown Court subsequently imposed the seven-year sentence. The conviction remains valid unless it is overturned through the appropriate appeal process.
