The Nation Newspaper

Tag: Ayokunle Faji

  • EFCC arraigns govt workers for ‘illegally dealing in gold’

    The Economic and Financial Crimes Commission (EFCC) on Tuesday arraigned eight government workers at the Federal High Court in Lagos for allegedly exporting 19 bars of gold without authorisation.

    Babagana Zannag, Ahmed Mannir, Manasseh Auta, Dahiru Bali, Isa Ammani, Ajakaye Oladipo, Bamanja Samuel and Lasisi Aisha were accused of depriving the Federal Government of export earnings from gold.

    The EFCC said they conspired to commit the offence on March 1 in Lagos.

    The defendants pleaded not guilty.

    Prosecuting counsel, Ayanfe Ogunsina, urged the court to set a date for trial.

    Read Also: EFCC arrests railway staff, two others for fraud

    He prayed that the defendants be remanded in prison custody until then.

    But, defence counsel, Habib Oredola and I. Chiahulamiro, said they filed bail applications for their clients.

    Urging the court to release them on bail, the lawyers said the defendants were Federal Government employees and would not jump bail.

    Ogunsina opposed the bail applications, saying the offence was grave and would attract life imprisonment if they were found guilty.

    “If the court is to use its discretion to grant bail, it should be in terms that the defendants will be present in court for their trial,”Ogunsina said.

    Justice Ayokunle Faji ordered that the defendants be remanded in prison custody.

    He adjourned till April 16 to rule on the bail applications.

     

  • Bank manager arraigned for alleged N411m fraud

    The Police Special Fraud Unit (SFU) Tuesday arraigned an Ecobank Plc manager, Ifeanyichukwu Azike, for allegedly defrauding a customer of N411 million.

    Justice Ayokunle Faji of the Federal High Court in Lagos ordered his remand pending hearing of his bail motion.

    He was charged with three counts of obtaining money by false pretence, false representation and fraud.

    The prosecution said Azike, sometime in 2016 and 2017, with intent to defraud, obtained N150million from a customer, Mr. Okafor Ikenna Kelvin, whose account number is 533010936.

    The defendant allegedly claimed that he would purchase treasury bills for him, a claim he knew to be false.

    SFU said Azike forged a signature, a photograph, and a letter of instruction to open a parallel account in Kelvin’s name, numbered 5333063028, with intent that it may be used as genuine to the prejudice of Kelvin and the bank.

    Read Also: New rules for banks on money laundering

    In the third count, the prosecution said the defendant “did fraudulent convert to your use the sum of N411, 000,000, being money fraudulently withdrawn from your employer without their consent, and from a customer of your bank, to invest on behalf of the customer, which you failed to deliver, with aim of converting the illicit origin of the resources.”

    The alleged offence violates Section 1 (1) (a) of the Advance Fee Fraud and punishable under Section 1 (3); Section 1 (2)(c) of the Miscellaneous Offences Act of 1999 (as amended), and Section 15 (1) 2) and 15 (2) of the Money Laundering (Prohibition) Act, 2011.

    The defendant pleaded not guilty.

    Justice Faji adjourned until March 8.

  • Judge orders trial-within-trial in illegal arms importation case

    Judge orders trial-within-trial in illegal arms importation case

    The Federal High Court in Lagos yesterday ordered a trial-within-trial to determine the truthfulness of statements made by suspected importers of illegal arms and ammunition, including 661 pump action rifles.

    Justice Ayokunle Faji made the order after the Department of State Services ( DSS ) Head of Investigation Mr. Wale Odu testified.

    The Federal Government arraigned Oscar Okafor, Donatus Achinulo, Mahmud Hassan, Mathew Okoye (at large) and Salihu Danjuma  last June 14 for illegally importing double barrel shortguns, pump action rifles and single barrel shotguns (firearms) without authorisation.

    Led in evidence by the prosecutor, Mr. Julius Ajaikaye, Odu said he took over the case from the Nigeria Customs Services last February.

    He said he interrogated Hassan and Okafor, and that Hassan told him that he was the sole director of Hassan Trade Nigeria Limited, which is the consignee and importer of the arms.

    “He and Okafor had several meetings at Southern Sun Hotel, Kingsway Road, Ikoyi, where he (Okafor) agreed to collect N4million for the clearance of the container. In one of the meetings, Okafor told him that he was charging N4million because the container was carrying pump action rifles.”

    The witness said it was Customs officers’ refusal to collect N1million bribe that led to 100 percent inspection of the container.

    Odu said Okafor also confessed that he participated in loading the container in Turkey with Okoye, and that he handed over a falsified Bill of Lading to Hassan for clearance in Nigeria.

    Hassan’s lawyer, Yakubu Galadima, raised objection to the tendering of his client’s statement. He claimed that statement was not obtained voluntarily.

    Other defence counsel Mr Rotimi Jacobs (SAN) Dr Paul Ananaba (SAN) also aligned themselves with Galadima’s submission.

    The defendants were arraigned on nine counts of conspiracy to illegally import prohibited firearms, “uttering” of forged documents, bribery and importation of prohibited goods.

    All the defendants pleaded not guilty at their arraignment.

    Count one of the charge said the defendants “on or about January 21, 2017, at Apapa, Lagos conspired together to illegally import into Nigeria 661 pump actions rifles.”

    The prosecution said they brought the arms from Turkey through the Apapa Port in Lagos, using a 40-feet container, which they falsely claimed contained steel doors.

    Justice Faji adjourned till tomorrow for trial-within-trial.

  • EFCC arraigns man for hacking Winners Chapel’s bookstore

    EFCC arraigns man for hacking Winners Chapel’s bookstore

    The EFCC on Wednesday charged one Chimezie Chuta before a Federal High Court in Lagos for alleged cybercrime.

    The accused was charged for allegedly hacking into the online bookstores of the Living Faith Church, popularly known as Winners Chapel.

    Chuta, however, pleaded not guilty to the charge.

    The EFCC in the charge marked, FHC/L/441C/17, alleged that the accused committed the offence on March 8, 2016.

    The accused was alleged to have altered the online data of Dominion Bookstores platform belonging to Living Faith Church Worldwide and created a counterfeit platform.

    The alteration was said to be for purposes of conferring economic benefits on himself.

    The EFCC said that the actions of the accused had caused the church to lose its publishing unit.

    It said that the offences contravened the provisions of Sections 14 and 16 of the Cybercrimes (Prohibition) Act 2015.

    After the plea of the accused, the Prosecutor, Mr Ahmed Yerima, asked the court for a trial date, urging it to remand the accused in prison, pending trial.

    The Defence Counsel, Mr A. Osagie, also urged the court to order the remand of the accused in EFCC custody.

    Read also: EFCC freezes N905m in suspected slush account

    He told the court that he was only briefed as counsel on Tuesday, and this had made it impossible for him to file the bail application earlier.

    The trial judge, Justice Ayokunle Faji, adjourned the matter until February 26 and 27, 2018, for trial, and ordered that the accused be remanded in prison custody.

    The judge however said that the bail application will be given a date for hearing

    NAN

  • Alleged indebtedness: court again adjourns suit against Stella Oduah until Oct. 19

    Alleged indebtedness: court again adjourns suit against Stella Oduah until Oct. 19

    A Federal High Court, Lagos on Thursday further adjourned until Oct. 19 hearing in a suit filed by Sterling Bank against a former Aviation Minister, Sen. Stella Oduah, over alleged indebtedness.

    The bank alleged that Oduah and her company, Sea Petroleum and Gas company Ltd, were indebted to it to the tune of 16.4 million dollars and N100.5 million.

    The suit, which was earlier adjourned for hearing of all pending applications, was on Thursday, and further fixed for Oct. 19, due to the health condition of the trial judge, Justice Ayokunle Faji.

    Faji told counsels present in court that he would only be able to take cases for arraignment and rulings, while a new date would be issued for other cases.

    The suit was therefore, fixed for Oct. 19, after the court’s vacation.

    The suit was initially pending before Justice Abdulaziz Anka of the same court, but was eventually reassigned to Justice Faji to begin afresh.

    In March, Justice Anka had issued an order, restraining Oduah and her companies from making any withdrawal from its account and those of three other companies domiciled with 21 banks in the country.

    The other companies include: Sea Shipping Agency Ltd, Rotary Engineering Services Ltd, and Tour Afrique Company Ltd.

    The court had also issued an order directing the said commercial banks harbouring the assets of Oduah and the four companies to sequestrate their indebtedness as at November 2016.

    The court further ordered that the money be kept in an interest yielding account in the name of the chief Registrar of the Federal court, pending the determination of the suit.

    In an affidavit in support of the suit deposed to by a staff of Sterling Bank, Mr Segun Akinsanya, the bank averred that on Oct. 8, 2012, it granted a lease/Cabotage Vessel Finance Facility (CVFF) to Sea Petroleum and Gas Company.

    He said that the facility was in the said sums to finance one unit 5,000 MT tanker vessel.

    He also averred that the loan was secured by an unconditional personal guarantee of the companies’ Director, Princess Stella Oduah.

    Akinsanya also averred that same was supported by a statement of her net worth, legal mortgage of two properties worth N135 billion, and a power of Attorney of the tanker vessel in favour of Sterling Bank.

    He averred that also in support was a fully executed standing payment order and tripartite remittance agreement between it and Oduah.

    It was further averred that on June 27, 2013, Sea Petroleum Company requested and was granted additional facilities in the sum of about 450,000 dollars for post-delivery expenses.

    He said that also granted was about 993, 000 dollars to meet the requisite conditions in securing the release of the tanker.

    Also, he averred that upon the persistent failure of the defendants to liquidate their indebtedness, Sterling Bank instructed its counsels to recover the debt.

    He said that in spite of several reminders and demands, the defendants had failed and refused to liquidate their indebtedness which had culminated to 16.4 million dollars, and about N100.5 million as at November 2016.

    He averred that there was imminent risk of the defendants dissipating the assets of the companies, and had urged the court to issue a restraining order.

    Meanwhile, Oduah and her companies in their processes had urged the court to discharge the order made against them.

    They had also filed a preliminary objection to the suit, urging the court to strike it out for lack of jurisdiction.