EFCC arrest, arraign 4 over $10,000 oil scam
- The three suspects and a company were arraigned in a court in Lagos for allegedly engaging in an oil scam
- The suspects have been remanded after they were arraigned by the Economic and Financial Crimes Commission
The Economic and Financial Crimes Commission (EFCC) has arraigned the trio of Emmanuel Onubogu, Onyeka Godday and Mamudu Musa alongside their company, Zirconafrik Limited, before Justice OA Taiwo of the Lagos High Court sitting in Igbosere area of the state.
They were arraigned on a two-count charge bordering on conspiracy and obtaining by false pretence to the tune of $10, 000.
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It was learnt that they allegedly approached the complainant, Adewale Olaiya, requesting the sum of $10, 000 as 'authentication fee' for one million barrels of crude oil purportedly allocated to them by the Nigerian National Petroleum Corporation, NNPC.
However, the defendants allegedly became elusive after receiving the money from the complainant.
‘‘That you, Emmanuel Onubogu, Onyeka Godday, Mamudu Musa and Zirconafrik Limited sometime in November, 2013 within Lagos in the Lagos judicial division, with intent to defraud, obtained the sum of USD10, 000.00 from Mr Adewale Olaiya through Zirconafrik Limited’s Guarantee Trust Bank account number: 0023950101 under the false pretence that the money represented the authentication fee for one million barrels of crude oil onboard MT Patroclus allocated to you for sale by the Nigerian National Petroleum Corporation (NNPC) which pretence you knew was false," one of the charges read.
The defendants pleaded not guilty to the charges while the counsel to the EFCC, MS Usman, asked the court for a trial date and urged that the defendants be remanded in prison custody.
However, counsels to the defendants, pleaded with the court to grant their clients bail, an application the prosecuting counsel did not oppose.
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Consequently, Justice Taiwo adjourned to March 22, 2017 for hearing on bail applications and ordered the defendants to be remanded in the EFCC custody.
Source: Legit.ng
