The Ilorin Zonal Directorate of the Economic and Financial Crimes Commission (EFCC) has arraigned a self-styled native doctor, Olorunbukunmi Taiwo, and his wife, Awolegan Omolola Omotola, for an alleged contract scam totaling N1,098,961,500 (One Billion, Ninety-Eight Million, Nine Hundred and Sixty-One Thousand, Five Hundred Naira).
Court Appearance
The couple appeared before Justice Abubakar Usman of the Federal High Court in Ado-Ekiti on a six-count charge related to obtaining money by false pretence and retention of proceeds of crime, contrary to Section 17(a) of the EFCC (Establishment) Act, 2004.
Petition and Investigation
Their arrest followed a petition by a widow, Anazia Colina Kenechukwu, a private school proprietor in Delta State. She alleged that Taiwo approached her to finance a road construction contract purportedly awarded by the Delta State Oil Producing Area Development Commission (DESOPADEC). Kenechukwu claimed a total of N1,980,000,000 (One Billion, Nine Hundred and Eighty Million Naira) was paid into Taiwo's Access Bank account.
Investigations revealed the couple invested the illicit proceeds in two properties in Ado-Ekiti: Town Tavern Lounge at No. 1, Ikere Road, off Florence Court School, and a four-bedroom bungalow on Florence Court, Irewolede Estate. The EFCC secured an interim attachment of these properties on May 25, 2026.
Charge Details
Count 2 of the charge states: "That you, Olorunbukunmi Taiwo and Awolegan Omolola Omotola, sometime between January 2024 and November 2025, in Ilorin, with intent to defraud, obtained N1,098,961,500 from Anazia Colina Kenechukwu, paid into Taiwo's Access Bank account, falsely representing it would be used for a road construction contract awarded by DESOPADEC, a pretence you knew to be false, thereby committing an offence under Section 1(1)(a) of the Advance Fee Fraud Act, 2006."
Plea and Adjournment
Both defendants pleaded not guilty. EFCC counsel Sesan Ola requested a trial date and the remand of the defendants. Justice Usman adjourned the case to June 11, 2026, for bail application hearing and trial commencement, ordering the defendants remanded in EFCC custody.
