Lagos, Nigeria – Nigeria’s Economic and Financial Crimes Commission (EFCC) has arraigned Otobor Onajefe before the Ikeja Special Offences Court in Lagos over allegations that he defrauded two individuals of ₦37.4 million (approximately $24,000).
The anti-graft agency said the arraignment followed an investigation into suspicious financial transactions allegedly linked to Onajefe and involving the conversion of funds for personal use.
Okay News reports that the EFCC filed a two-count charge bordering on conspiracy and stealing under Sections 409 and 285 of the Criminal Law of Lagos State, 2011.
According to the EFCC, the case began after the commission received information that prompted a review of financial records connected to the defendant. Investigators alleged that Onajefe, alongside an associate identified as Philip Onobrakpe, who is currently at large, persuaded two men, Omotayo Oyebanji and Ernest Adeii, to release the funds under false pretences in Lagos in 2023.
One count of the charge alleges that the defendants conspired to obtain the ₦37.4 million, while the second count accuses Onajefe of converting the same amount to his personal use.
At the arraignment, Onajefe pleaded not guilty to all charges. EFCC counsel Temitope Banjo requested a trial date and urged the court to remand the defendant in a correctional facility, stating that the prosecution intended to respond formally to the bail application and that Onajefe had previously been difficult to locate for arraignment.
Defence counsel Samuel Danni told the court that a bail application dated February 6 had been filed and served on the prosecution on the morning of the arraignment. He requested permission to move the application and sought a short adjournment.
Justice Mojisola Dada adjourned the matter until February 26 for the hearing of the bail application and ordered that Onajefe be remanded in a correctional centre pending further proceedings.
The EFCC has continued to pursue financial crime cases as part of its mandate to investigate and prosecute fraud and economic misconduct in Nigeria.
