The Economic and Financial Crimes Commission (EFCC) has arraigned five defendants before courts in Abuja and Ibadan over alleged cybercrime, defamation, forgery and obtaining money by false pretence in separate cases involving millions of naira.
In Abuja, the EFCC arraigned Maryam Isah Shehu and Abubakar Shuraim Abdulhamid before Justice Joyce Abdulmalik of the Federal High Court on allegations bordering on cybercrime and actions allegedly calculated to tarnish the image of the Commission.
Shehu was arraigned on Thursday, August 20, 2026, on an amended one-count charge for allegedly using her Instagram account, @maryamshehu, to publish information intended to damage the reputation of the EFCC.
The Commission alleged that on June 21, 2026, in Abuja, Shehu published a claim that EFCC officials assaulted one Ahmed Uthman on the instruction of a Zonal Director who allegedly collected N20 million from one Usman Iya Abbas.
According to the EFCC, the publication constituted an offence under Section 24(2)(c) of the Cybercrimes (Prohibition, Prevention, Etc.) Act, 2015, as amended in 2024.
Abdulhamid, on his part, was arraigned on a one-count charge for allegedly using his X account, @shuraimi, to circulate a fabricated image designed to resemble an official EFCC arrest placard.
The Commission alleged that the image depicted one Sadeeq Kabeer as a suspect arrested by the EFCC, with the inscription that his alleged offence was selling laptops to students at affordable prices.
Both defendants pleaded not guilty to the charges.
Following their pleas, EFCC counsel, Elizabeth Alabi, asked the court to fix a date for trial and remand Shehu in custody. Counsel to Shehu, C.O. Amalaha, informed the court that a bail application had been filed and urged the court to grant her client bail on liberal terms.
Counsel to Abdulhamid, Adamu K. Adamu, also informed the court of his bail application and prayed that his client be remanded in EFCC custody.
Justice Abdulmalik ordered that Shehu be remanded at the Suleja Correctional Centre, Niger State, while Abdulhamid was remanded at the Kuje Correctional Centre. The court adjourned the matter until August 31, 2026, for hearing of the bail applications and commencement of trial.
Meanwhile, the EFCC’s Ibadan Zonal Directorate has arraigned three other defendants in separate cases involving alleged visa fraud, forgery and obtaining money by false pretence.
On Wednesday, August 19, 2026, Emmanuel Serah Motunrayo and Awotunde Olugbenga were arraigned before Justice Olusola Adetujoye of the Oyo State High Court sitting in Ibadan on a 47-count charge bordering on forgery, uttering of forged documents and obtaining money by false pretence involving N23.4 million.
The EFCC alleged that the defendants presented themselves to their victims, Oluwatobi Adeoluwa Iyanda and Oyewale Tunji Bello, as travel and immigration agents based in Abuja who could facilitate Canadian visas and other travel arrangements.
According to the Commission, the defendants allegedly collected N12,368,100 from Iyanda and N11,036,500 from Bello before reneging on their promises.
One of the charges alleged that Motunrayo and Olugbenga obtained N527,000 from Iyanda by falsely representing that they would secure a valid Canadian visa and flight ticket for him.
Another charge accused them of forging a Canadian visa dated June 20, 2025, bearing Travel Document Number B011745448 in Iyanda’s name and purportedly issued by the Canadian government.
They were also accused of fraudulently uttering another purported Canadian visa dated July 6, 2025, bearing Travel Document Number B50125702 in the name of Oyewale Tunji Bello, with the intention that it would be acted upon as genuine.
The defendants pleaded not guilty to the charges.
EFCC counsel, Mohammed Abideen, thereafter prayed the court for a trial date and the remand of the defendants in a correctional centre. Their counsel, Jimoh Wasiu, told the court that bail applications had been filed and urged the court to admit them to bail pending the determination of the case.
Justice Adetujoye adjourned the matter until August 26, 2026, for hearing of the bail applications and ordered that the defendants be remanded at the Agodi Correctional Centre, Ibadan.
Also on Monday, August 17, 2026, the EFCC arraigned Idowu Olugbemi Sunday before Justice Adetujoye over an alleged N6.65 million visa fraud involving one Okanlawon Tunji Ajao.
Sunday was arraigned on a four-count charge bordering on forgery, uttering of documents and obtaining money by false pretence.
The EFCC alleged that between June 2025 and January 2026, at Ibadan, the defendant obtained N6.65 million from Ajao by falsely representing that he would secure Canadian visas for Ajao and his family.
The Commission said the alleged offence contravened Section 1(3) of the Advance Fee Fraud and Other Fraud Related Offences Act, 2006.
Sunday pleaded not guilty to all the charges.
EFCC counsel, Lanre Suleiman, subsequently asked the court to fix a trial date and remand the defendant in a correctional centre, while his counsel, Tiwalade Shittu, informed the court of a pending bail application and urged the court to grant his client bail on liberal terms.
Justice Adetujoye adjourned the case until August 26, 2026, for hearing of the bail application and ordered that Sunday be remanded at the Agodi Correctional Centre.
The EFCC’s latest prosecutions in Abuja and Ibadan underscore the Commission’s continued efforts to prosecute alleged cybercrime, fraudulent representations, forgery and other forms of financial and economic crimes.
All the defendants remain presumed innocent until proven guilty by the courts.
