Crime
Alleged £1m Fraud: Police Witness Reveals How Suspects Were Apprehended In Ikorodu
The third prosecution witness, PW3, in the ongoing trial of seven suspects over an alleged £1m fraud, Giwa Wasiu, an Assistant Superintendent of the Police, ASP has told Justice R. A. Osodi of the Special Offences Court sitting in Ikeja, Lagos how the defendants were apprehended in the Ikorodu area of Lagos.
The Lagos Directorate of the Economic and Financial Crimes Commission (EFCC), had on February 3, 2022, arraigned Morufu Adewale, (a.k.a Gbegunleri Adelana), Abayomi Alaka (a.k.a. Dauda Usman Alashe), Omitogun Ajayi and Ajisegiri Abiodun before Justice Oluwatoyin Taiwo of the Special Offences Court sitting in Ikeja, Lagos. Three other defendants, Taiwo Ahmed, Raufu Raheem and Sanlabiu Teslim, had initially been listed at large.
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However, the trial could not be concluded before the retirement of Justice Taiwo.
This prompted the re-assignment of the case file to Justice Oshodi, even as the EFCC intensified its efforts to secure the arrest of the other suspected fraudsters.
Subsequently, all seven defendants were in December 2022 re-arraigned on an amended three-count charge.
Count one reads: “Morufu Yahaya Adewale, Omitogun Ajayi, Ajisegiri Abiodun, Abayomi Kamaldeen Alaka, Taiwo Olamilekan Ahmed, Raufu Wale Raheem and Sanlabiu Owolabi Teslim between May and July 2018 at Lagos within the Ikeja Judicial Division obtained the total sum of £1,000,000.00 (One Million Pounds Sterling) from Dr. and Dr. (Mrs) Lateef Oladimeji Bello for the purpose of conducting prayers for spiritual cleansing of the family and that the money will be refunded after the prayers within one week, which you knew to be false.”
Count three reads: “Morufu Yahaya Adewale, Omitogun Ajayi, Ajisegiri Abiodun, Abayomi Kamaldeen Alaka, Taiwo Olamilekan Ahmed, Raufu Wale Raheem and Sanlabiu Owolabi Teslim between August and September 2018 at Lagos within the Ikeja Judicial Division obtained the total sum of N175,000,000.00 (One Hundred and Seventy-five Million Naira Only) from Dr. and Dr. (Mrs) Lateef Oladimeji Bello for the purpose of conducting spiritual prayers for spiritual cleansing of their son and the family and that the money will be refunded one week after the prayers which you knew to be false.”
They all pleaded “not guilty” to the charges when they were read to them, prompting the commencement of their trial.
Led in evidence by the prosecution counsel, N. K.Ukoha, during the sitting on Friday, Wasiu identified the suspects in the dock and also narrated how he and his team members arrested them in the Ikorodu area of Lagos.
He said: “In July 2021, I got a call from DCP Abba Kyari, who was then our team leader before I was transferred out of Abuja. He informed me about a fraud discovered in the Central Bank of Nigeria, CBN, being handled by the EFCC. He said some of the suspects had been arrested, while others were at large. I was ordered by him to arrest the fleeing suspects. Their phone numbers were given to me; and from there, I got the location of the suspects. Some of my men and I traced them to Gberigbe in Ikorodu.”
Giving further testimony, he said: “ The suspects were arrested inside a house. When we got to their hideout, the suspects attempted to run away. Raheem went on to climb the ceiling, the second suspect too ran away, while the third suspect managed to escape through the fence into the next compound. We jumped into that building and arrested one of them immediately. The others were still missing.
“While my men jumped over the fence in search of the suspects, someone, who was going in the street, quietly informed us that the suspect we were looking for had hidden somewhere. So, we went there to arrest him.
“During this operation, the three suspects who were arrested were taken to Abuja for further interrogations. They were also informed of the reason for their arrest.”
According to him, the suspects confessed to have duped a woman, identified as Dr.(Mrs ) Bello, of the sum of N675 million, after they had assured her of conducting a spiritual cleansing for her son.
Wasiu also told the court that during their interrogations in Abuja, their confessional statements were video-recorded through the NPF Camera and copied on the Nigeria Police laptop computer as well as a flash drive.
The PW3 added that “the flash drive was given to the EFCC, while the suspects were also handed over to the Commission.”
Thereafter, the prosecution counsel sought to tender the video as evidence before the court.
However, the defence counsel, particularly Olalekan Ojo, SAN, representing the 3rd and 4th defendants, objected to the admissibility of the video, on the grounds that the confessional statements “were made under duress” and that “the documents were obtained through the instrumentality of coercion.”
The defence counsel also submitted that the defendants’s lawyers were not with them when the confessional statements were obtained from them.
Ojo further argued that the witness did not occupy the position that warranted his use of electronic devices such as operating a video.
“Is the flash drive a documentary evidence?” he asked.
Justice Oshodi adjourned the case till October 11, 2024, for ruling and continuation of trial.
In a show of support, controversial figure Martins Otse, also known as, VeryDarkMan, has celebrated the suspension of two officers by the Nigeria Correctional Service (NCS).
He disclosed this in a video posted via his Facebook page on Thursday.
This suspension follows serious allegations made by popular crossdresser Idris Okuneye, widely recognized as Bobrisky against the NCoS and the EFCC.
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Bobrisky claimed that he had bribed EFCC operatives with N15 million to drop money laundering charges against him and that he had also attempted to bribe NCoS officials to evade imprisonment.
Expressing his satisfaction with the minister’s actions, VeryDarkMan stated, “The honorable minister of interior Olubunmi Tunji-Ojo, you have proven yourself to me before, and I was just relaxed watching. And boom, you did it again with the suspension of some officers that might be involved in this whole Bobrisky saga.”
He praised the minister’s commitment to improving Nigeria, adding that they are working together to create positive change.
He added, “much love Egbon it’s a fight to make Nigeria a better place and we will definitely make it a better place with our own little efforts, keep that fire burning, we have picked each others brains and I believe in you for now because as a politician you fit go change tomorrow so for now you are the guy, GOD BLESS YOU,I love you Egbon.”
Concerns over the management of correctional facilities have prompted the Federal Government to suspend key officials at the Maximum and Minimum Custodial Centres in Kirikiri, Lagos State.
This decision follows the emergence of an audio leak that raises serious questions about the treatment of convicted individuals within the correctional system.
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Ja’afaru Ahmed, the Secretary of the Civil Defence, Correctional, Fire and Immigration Services Board (CDCFIB), announced the suspensions in a statement released on Thursday in Abuja.
The controversy centers around Idris Okuneye, known as Bobrisky, who was sentenced to six months in prison for a crime but reportedly received special treatment, including access to an apartment outside the facility.
The allegations prompted Interior Minister Dr. Olubunmi Tunji-Ojo to initiate an investigation on Wednesday.
Ahmed assured that the suspension of the officers aims to ensure a thorough inquiry into the matter, with the findings set to be made public once the investigation is concluded.
He said; “Following the viral video trending on social media on alleged infractions by Officers of the Nigerian Correctional Service relating to Mr. Idris Okuneye, widely known as Bobrisky, the Civil Defence, Correctional, Fire and Immigration Services Board has suspended forthwith the following Senior Officers of the Service.
“Michael Anugwa, Deputy Controller of Corrections (DCC), In-Charge of Medium Security Custodial Centre (MSCC), Kiri-kiri, Lagos State; and Sikiru Adekunle, Deputy Controller of Corrections (DCC), In-Charge of Maximum-Security Custodial Centre (MSCC), Kiri-kiri, Lagos State.
“Also, the Board has suspended ASC II Ogbule Samuel Obinna, serving at the Medium Security Custodial Centre (MSCC), Afikpo, Ebonyi State, for allegedly accompanying a convicted inmate out of the Custodial Centre to a location outside the facility.
“In another related development, the Board has equally suspended another Senior Officer of the Service, Iloafonsi Kevin Ikechukwu, Deputy Controller of Corrections (DCC), In-Charge of Medium Security Custodial Centre (MSCC), Kuje- Abuja, for allegedly receiving monies on behalf of an inmate.”
In the midst of a heated defamation controversy involving human rights lawyer Femi Falana and social media influencer Martins Vincent Otse, known as VeryDarkMan, another notable legal figure has stepped in.
Public interest lawyer Inibehe Effiong has critiqued VeryDarkMan’s handling of the matter, pointing out key legal missteps in his approach.
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In a statement shared on X (formerly Twitter) on Thursday, Effiong took issue with VeryDarkMan’s understanding of libel law.
He remarked, “Saying that you expected Femi Falana to write to Bobrisky and not you, who actually published the defamatory matter, is just a demonstration of your acute lack of knowledge of the law of libel.”
He stressed that VeryDarkMan’s personal remarks and his involvement in sharing defamatory audio held him legally responsible.
“Even if you intend to argue fair comment in court, your personal, prejudicial statements weaken your case. Emotion and the law are separate matters,” Effiong continued.
He further clarified that defamation could still be actionable even without directly naming individuals, provided society can reasonably infer the identity of the person being defamed.
“If reasonable and right-thinking members of society can deduce from your statement who the defamatory remarks were targeting, and if this lowers the public’s opinion of that individual, you are legally liable,” Effiong explained.
The controversy erupted after VeryDarkMan shared an audio implicating Femi Falana’s son, rapper Folarin Falana (known as Falz), in a conversation involving Nigerian crossdresser Idris Okuneye, better known as Bobrisky.
In the recording, Bobrisky allegedly claimed that, after his sentencing in April for defacing naira notes, his godfather, with the help of the Controller-General of the Nigerian Correctional Service, arranged for him to serve his six-month sentence in a private apartment.
Bobrisky also purportedly stated that Falz and his father, Falana, had contacted him, offering to secure a Federal Government pardon for ₦10 million.
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