Nigerian man sent to U.S. in a case about teen's death

A Nigerian man has been sent to the United States to face charges in a case about sextortion, which is connected to the death of a 17-year-old boy from America.

The man, named Hassanbunhussein Abolore Lawal, is 24 years old and comes from Osun state in Nigeria. He was sent to the U.S. after Nigeria made sure he would not get the death penalty if found guilty.

On Monday, Lawal went to court in South Carolina. He wore an orange jumpsuit and chains. He said he was not guilty of charges, including one that could give him 30 years in prison or even life in jail.

Police say Lawal pretended to be a young woman online to trick Gavin Guffey, a teenager, into sending private pictures. Then, he threatened Gavin and asked for money, even bothering his family. Sadly, Gavin later ended his own life.

Lawal is still in jail without bail, and his next court day is on Monday.

This case is part of a bigger effort to stop sextortion scams by Nigerian criminals. Last year, two Nigerian brothers were sent to prison in the U.S. for a similar crime. The company Meta (which owns Facebook) has also removed many fake accounts used for scams in Nigeria.

Nigeria's Cyber Crime Centre says they are working harder to stop these crimes and are spending a lot of money on new technology to fight them.