The defendants are facing charges of obtaining money by false pretence, money laundering, and stealing to the tune of N197,750,000 (One Hundred and Ninety-Seven Million, Seven Hundred and Fifty Thousand Naira).
The Economic and Financial Crimes Commission (EFCC) has arraigned a husband and wife, Baba Sule Abubakar Sadiq and Hafsat Kabir Lawal, alongside two others, Abdullahi Bala and Ladani Akindele, before Justice Amina Bello of the Kaduna State High Court.
The defendants are facing charges of obtaining money by false pretence, money laundering, and stealing to the tune of N197,750,000 (One Hundred and Ninety-Seven Million, Seven Hundred and Fifty Thousand Naira).
The defendants were arraigned on Monday, March 9, 2025, on six-count charges. They allegedly conspired to defraud their victims by impersonating the wife of the Katsina State Governor, Fatima Dikko Radda, among other fraudulent schemes.
Dele Oyewale, EFCC Head, Media and Publicity in a statement on Thursday noted that the defendants were initially arrested by the Department of State Services (DSS) and later transferred to the EFCC when it became clear that their crimes were financially motivated.
One of the charges reads: “That you Hafsat Kabir Lawal, Babasule Abubakar Sadiq, Abdullahi Bala, Ladani Akindele Ayodele, sometimes in December 2024 at Kaduna within the jurisdiction of this honourable court, with intent to defraud, did obtain the sum of N89,000,000.00 (Eighty-Nine Million Naira) from Aminu Usman, which money you caused to be paid into the Taj Bank Plc account number 0009914725 belonging to Abdullahi Bala under the false pretence that you had the sum of $53,300 (Fifty-Three Thousand Three Hundred United States Dollars) to exchange for the Naira equivalent, which pretence you knew to be false, and you thereby committed an offence contrary to Section 1 (1) of the Advance Fee Fraud and Other Fraud Related Offences Act, 2006, punishable under Section 1 (3) of the same Act.”
The defendants pleaded not guilty to the charges when they were read to them. Following their pleas, the prosecution counsel, Bright C. Ogbonna, requested a trial date and asked the court to remand the defendants in a correctional facility.
However, the defence counsels, M.S. Katu (SAN) for the 1st and 2nd defendants, Jazuli Mustapha for the 3rd defendant, and Paul A. Okachi for the 4th defendant, informed the court that they had filed bail applications for their clients and were ready to proceed. Ogbonna opposed the applications, arguing that they were not ripe for hearing. In response, the defence counsels urged the court to allow an oral application for bail.
After hearing arguments from both sides, Justice Bello sided with the prosecution and ordered the defendants to be remanded in a correctional facility. The case was adjourned to March 17, 2025, for the hearing of the bail applications.
Investigations revealed that Hafsat Kabir Lawal, the first defendant, posed as one of the wives of Katsina State Governor Malam Dikko Radda to defraud her victims. She allegedly obtained N89,000,000 and an additional N108,000,000 from a petitioner, claiming to have $118,300 (One Hundred and Eighteen Thousand Three Hundred Dollars) to sell.
Hafsat’s husband, Baba Sule Abubakar Sadiq, reportedly provided her with two SIM cards registered under the name “Fatima Dikko Radda” using the True Caller app. He also allegedly contacted the fourth defendant, Ladani Akindele, a former colleague at a new-generation bank, to obtain the contact details of Unity Bank Chairman Hafiz Bashir. Through Bashir, they connected with the petitioner, Aminu Usman, a bureau de change operator.
The fraudulent sum of N197,750,000 was deposited into the account of the third defendant, Abdullahi Bala, and subsequently distributed among the four defendants. The funds were allegedly laundered through various means.
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