The recovery of the funds, handed over in bank drafts by the Acting Zonal Director, Lagos Zonal Directorate 2, Assistant Commander of the EFCC, ACE I Bawa Usman Kaltungo, followed investigations into an alleged case of obtaining money by false pretence and diversion of funds involving one Jacob Oyebola Esan and companies linked to him.

In a petition submitted on April 20, 2026, B4 Sail Limited alleged that Esan, on behalf of his company, Geo Fields Plc, had approached the company in August 2025 for a N500 Million Naira loan facility to boost his business.

The loan facility, according to the petitioner, attracted an interest rate of 15 per cent per month and had a tenor of one month.
Investigation revealed that Esan, who is the first suspect, had previously obtained other loan facilities from the company, bringing his total loan exposure to N1,065,000,000.00 (One Billion, Sixty-Five Million Naira).
It was also revealed that Esan pledged shares held by him as collateral for the facilities through Calyx Securities Limited, the clearing house for the stocks, with the understanding that the shares would be subject to a lien in favour of B4 Sail Limited and that the company would have the first right of payment upon the sale of the shares.

The lien, investigation revealed, was communicated to B4 Sail Limited through a letter signed by the second suspect, Gbolahan Azeez Bello, Managing Director, Calyx Securities Limited.

Further investigation, however, revealed that the shares pledged as collateral had been sold without the knowledge of the petitioner, resulting in the suspect’s alleged default in repaying the facilities.
Consequently, the outstanding loan and accrued interest had risen to N2,250,500,000.00 (Two Billion, Two Hundred and Fifty Million, Five Hundred Thousand Naira).

Speaking during the handover ceremony, Kaltungo stated that the recovery “represents a further step in the Commission’s efforts to ensure that funds and assets recovered in the course of its investigations are appropriately returned to legitimate owners and victims in accordance with due process.

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The suspect was arrested on September 3, 2026, by operatives of the National Drug Law Enforcement Agency,  NDLEA,  along Maiduguri Road in Kano following the discovery of the counterfeit currency. The NDLEA subsequently handed over the suspect and the fake currency to the EFCC for further investigation and possible prosecution.
The formal handover took place at the Kano Directorate of the EFCC, where the Acting Zonal Director,  Assistant Commander  of the EFCC,  ACE1 Friday S. Ebelo, received both the suspect and the exhibits.  A representative of the NDLEA, Deputy Superintendent of Narcotics,  Yahaya Labaran,  while handing over the case, expressed appreciation for the continued strategic collaboration between the two agencies in sanitizing Nigeria’s financial system.
Ebelo, acknowledging the handover, reiterated the EFCC’s commitment to cleansing the financial ecosystem of counterfeit currencies and fraudulent schemes. He specifically warned members of the public to be wary of “money doubling” scams, which often involves using counterfeit notes as tools to defraud unsuspecting victims.
“Such fake currencies coming into the economy do not paint a good picture of us,” he said.   He called on the public to remain vigilant and avoid falling victim to individuals offering to “double” money and other financial crimes through questionable means.
The suspect, Usaini Ibrahim, is currently in the custody of the EFCC and will be arraigned in court upon the conclusion of investigations.

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Ochili was arrested based on claims of  a petitioner alleging  that sometime in September, 2022,  he falsely presented himself as the owner of five plots of land situated beside Anambra State Secretariat by Stamford Hotel, Aroma junction, Awka, Anambra State, and falsely offered it for sale.
Relying on the suspect’s representation, the petitioner purchased the said plots in the sum of N128, 000, 000. 00 (One Hundred and Twenty-Eight Million Naira), which was paid into the suspect’s company account.    However,   he was unable to take possession of the land
Preliminary investigations showed that the suspect knew that the said land encroached on Anambra State Government Secretariat’s land but went further to sell the same to the petitioner.   Instead of refunding the petitioner’s money, the suspect offered him two dud cheques
Further preliminary investigations showed that the suspect used part of the money to settle his debts and his company, Debasilio Construction and Estate Development Limited, has never been tax compliant.
The suspect will be charged to court as soon as investigations are concluded.

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Osagiede is standing trial on a three-count charge bordering on unauthorised access to computer material and receiving stolen property to the tune of N700 million.

Count one reads: “That you Osaretin Osagiede and Zacharia Lorshe (at large), between March, 2025 and January 2026, in Lagos, within the jurisdiction of this Honourable Court, intentionally caused the Ravenpay user accounts’ two-factor authentication (2FA) method to be bypassed, with the intent to secure unauthorised access to the bank’s data and committed an offence contrary to Section 387 of the Criminal Law of Lagos State 2011.

Another counts reads: “That you Osaretin Osagiede and Zacharia Lorshe (at large), between March 2025 and January 2026 in Lagos, within the jurisdiction of this Honourable Court, dishonestly received the stolen sum of N700,000,000.00 (Seven Hundred Million Naira), property of Best Start Micro Finance Bank, whilst having reason to believe the same to be stolen property and committed an offence contrary to Section 411 and 328(1) of the Criminal Law of Lagos State 2011.”

The defendant pleaded “not guilty” to the charge.

In view of his plea, prosecution counsel, H.U. Kofarnaisa, requested a trial date and urged the court to remand the defendant in a Correctional facility pending the hearing of his bail application.

Justice Ogunjobi adjourned the matter to September 16, 2026, for hearing of the bail application and ordered that Osagiede be remanded in a Correctional facility.

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Abubakar was arraigned on a two-count charge bordering on retention of proceeds of a criminal activity to the tune of N1,098,976,008 (One Billion, Ninety-Eight Million, Nine Hundred and Seventy-six Thousand and Eight Naira).

Count one reads: “That you Mahmud A. Abubakar, between January 2024 and December 2024, within the jurisdiction of this Honourable Court did retain control of the proceeds of a criminal conduct totalling N795,360,000 (Seven Hundred and Ninety-five million, Three hundred and Sixty Thousand Naira) in your Access Bank with name Mahmud A. Abubakar and number 0057310017, which sum you knew that the same was derived from criminal conduct and thereby committed an offence contrary to Section 17(a) of the Economic and Financial Crimes Commission (Establishment) Act 2004 and punishable under Section 17(b) of the same Act.”

Count two reads: “That you Mahmud A. Abubakar, between January 2024 and December 2024, within the jurisdiction of this Honourable Court did transfer proceeds of a criminal conduct totalling N303,616,008 (Three Hundred and Three Million, Six Hundred and Sixteen Thousand Eight Naira) from your Access Bank with name Mahmud A. Abubakar and number 0057310017, to one Suleiman Umar which sum you knew that the same was derived from criminal conduct and thereby committed an offence contrary to Section 17(a) of the Economic and Financial Crimes Commission (Establishment) Act 2004 and punishable under Section 17(b) of the same Act.”

He pleaded “not guilty,” to the charges, prompting the prosecution counsel, Y.Y. Tarfa, to request a trial date and for the defendant to be remanded in a Correctional Centre, while the defence counsel, A. M. Aliyu, filed a bail application, which was not opposed by the prosecution counsel.

Justice Nwabulu granted the defendant bail with two sureties, both of whom must be Level 15 civil servants, with one required to be a landed property owner in the Federal Capital Territory, FCT.

The judge further ordered that the defendant be remanded in Kuje Correctional Centre, Abuja, pending the fulfilment of the bail conditions and adjourned the matter till September 30, 2026, for commencement of trial.

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Olawale and Adekunle had been identified in separate investigations by the Federal Bureau of Investigation, FBI, in sextortion schemes targeting male minors, particularly those between the ages of 13 and 17, leading to the deaths of two minors.

The schemes involved the use of Child Sexual Abuse Material, CSAM, to extort victims for money through various means, including money remitters, gift cards and cryptocurrency.

The FBI investigations linked the activities of the alleged perpetrators to two separate cases involving American minors, who died by suicide after being subjected to online sexual exploitation and extortion.

In one of the cases, a 13-year-old male victim received a direct message on Instagram from a subject who suggested an exchange of nude photographs.   Investigations by the FBI revealed that the subject subsequently threatened to disseminate the minor’s photographs to his Instagram contacts and demanded money from him.

It was further revealed that communications reportedly continued despite the minor indicating that he intended to take his own life.  The FBI subsequently developed actionable intelligence identifying individuals allegedly involved in the scheme and requested the assistance of the EFCC in identifying, investigating and prosecuting the perpetrators under applicable Nigerian laws.

Following investigations by the Commission, Adekunle was arrested and brought before the Commission.

In a similar vein, the FBI also sought the extradition of Olawale over a seven-count charge, including “sexual exploitation and attempted sexual exploitation of a minor resulting in death, enticement and attempted enticement of a minor to engage in sexual activity, interstate threatening communications, sexual exploitation and attempted sexual exploitation of a minor, and distribution and attempted distribution of child pornography.”

Consequently, the Commission initiated extradition proceedings against Olawale at the Federal High Court, Lagos Judicial Division, in Suit No. FHC/L/CS/353/2024, before Justice A. Lewis-Allagoa, following a request by the FBI.

Although the Judge refused the application during proceedings on June 10, 2024, the ruling was subsequently appealed by the Office of the Attorney-General of the Federation.

On July 7, 2026, the Court of Appeal, Lagos Division, in Appeal No. CA/LAG/CV/721/2024, set aside the judgment of the Federal High Court, thereby paving the way for Olawale’s extradition to the U.S.

The extradition of Olawale and Adekunle underscores the continued collaboration between the EFCC and the FBI in tackling transnational financial crimes, particularly internet-enabled crimes involving the exploitation of minors and sextortion.

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The development came when the State Coordinator of the NIMC Gombe State, Maryam Sarki Othman paid a courtesy visit to the Gombe Acting Zonal Director of the EFCC , Assistant Commander of the EFCC, ACEI Austine Adache in his office in Gombe State.

Othman said the the visit was aimed at strenthening the existing mutual partnership between her agency and the EFCC, particularly in the areas of identity verification and collaborative efforts to eradicate identity theft in Nigeria.

She assured the EFCC of her agency’s unrelented support in its fight against economic and financial crimes and other acts of corruption.

Responding, Adache commended the NIMC for its support over the years and expressed optimism that the collaboration between the two agencies would be taken a notch higher.u in

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The recovery followed a petition submitted by Prudent Energy and Services Limited, alleging that petroleum products entrusted to Ibafon Oil and Gas for storage had been unlawfully converted, resulting in a significant shortfall in the company’s stock.

The petitioner also alleged that periodic withdrawals were made from the stored products until the outstanding balance stood at 2,574,031 litres.

However, during a subsequent physical measurement and reconciliation exercise, only 206,761 litres remained in the storage tanks, leaving a deficit of 2,367,270 litres.

Investigation revealed that Ibafon Oil and Gas is involved in the purchase and sale of Automotive Gas Oil (AGO) and also stores its petroleum products at the same depot alongside products belonging to its customers.

It was further revealed that Ibru allegedly used his position as the owner of Ibafon Oil and Gas to truck out petroleum products in excess of the quantity owned by the company, thereby converting the petitioner’s products for his own use.

Following the Commission’s intervention, the suspect handed over the recovered products to the petitioner, Prudent Energy and Services Limited.

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The engagement, which unfolded as a high-level interactive dialogue brought together the agency’s state leadership and the Board’s top echelon. The ICPC delegation, steered by the Resident Anti-Corruption Commissioner, Mr Linus Gubbi, utilised the forum to dissect the tenets of the National Ethics and Integrity Policy, framing it not as a punitive instrument but as a blueprint for sustainable institutional renaissance.

Addressing the assembly, Mr Gubbi delivered a stark warning that the basic education sub-sector, as the very bedrock of national development, must remain impervious to predatory practices. He identified the diversion of instructional materials, the perpetuation of ghost-worker syndromes, and procurement irregularities as existential threats that compromise learning outcomes and squander scarce state and Universal Basic Education Commission (UBEC) funds.

In a supplementary technical paper titled “Anti-Corruption and Work Ethics in Organisations”, Assistant Chief Superintendent Abba Dzikwi expanded the definition of corrupt conduct beyond the venality of financial theft. He stressed that administrative indiscipline, chronic absenteeism, and wilful neglect of due process are equally corrosive, undermining service delivery and eroding public confidence in governance structures.

The BOSUBEB team, led by the Permanent Secretary of the Ministry of Education, Dr Hyelni Haruna Mshelia, and including the Governor’s Special Adviser on Education, Alhaji Ali Makinta, and Permanent Member I, Hajj. Hauwa Ngoma, actively participated in a robust question-and-answer session. Concerns regarding project monitoring, the safety of whistleblowers, and the operational mechanics of reporting malfeasance were candidly addressed, with the ICPC offering assurances of confidentiality and a commitment to expedite investigative follow-ups.

In a notable outcome, the Board management formalised its dedication to probity by pledging to establish an Anti-Corruption and Transparency Unit (ACTU) to serve as a dedicated liaison and internal watchdog. This commitment was reinforced by the presentation of educational resources and reporting channel guides from the Commission, designed to empower staff at all levels to act as custodians of integrity.

Dr Mshelia, in her closing remarks, expressed profound appreciation for the ICPC’s proactive engagement and reaffirmed the Board’s zero-tolerance stance on all forms of corruption. She articulated a vision of an education administration that not only delivers equitable learning opportunities but does so through a lens of uncompromising accountability, ensuring that every kobo allocated translates into tangible benefits for the children of Borno.

The visit concluded a week of intensified oversight activities by the ICPC in the North-East, signalling a renewed focus on safeguarding public institutions from the deleterious effects of graft. As the newly formed ACTU takes shape, stakeholders will be watching closely to see if this pledge of transparency translates into enduring reform for the state’s most crucial public service.

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Count one reads: “That you Mahwash Benedict Luka while being the Managing Director of Bennicle Investment Limited on 29th day of November 2023 at Abuja within the jurisdiction of this Honourable court did issue a First City Monument Bank Plc Cheque with Cheque no 0024633617with the face value of N10,000,000 to First Bank Nigeria Plc, which when presented was dishonored due to insufficient funds and thereby committed an offence contrary to Section 1(1) of the Dishonored Cheques Act and punishable under Section 1(i) (ii) of the same Act.”

Count two reads: “That you Mahwash Benedict Luka while being the Managing Director of Bennicle Investment Limited on 29th day of August 2016 at Abuja within the jurisdiction of this Honorable court did issue Sterling Bank Plc Cheque with Cheque no 60911474 with the face value of N10,000,000.00 to First Bank Nigeria Limited, which when presented was dishonored due to insufficient funds and thereby committed an offence contrary to Section 1(1) of the Dishonored Cheques Act and punishable under Section 1(i) (i) of the same Act.”

The 1st defendant Mahwash Benedict Luka on behalf of himself and Bennicle Investment Nigeria Limited pleaded not guilty to the two counts preferred against them.

The matter was subsequently adjourned for hearing of the bail application

At the resumed sitting, on Friday, counsel to the defendants, I. Ashom, moved the bail application filed on behalf of the 1st defendant but informed the court that no separate bail application had been filed for the 2nd defendant. He, however, urged the court to exercise its discretion and grant bail to both defendants, noting that the 1st defendant is the Managing Director of the 2nd defendant company.

Justice Fashola granted bail to both defendants in the sum of N10 million (Ten Million Naira) with one surety who must be a person of reputable character with a verifiable address.
The matter was thereafter adjourned till October 22, 2026, for commencement of trial.

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