The witness who is an operative of the EFCC, said the commission arrested the alleged fake army general in Lagos State after receiving a petition of N266million fraud against him.
A prosecution witness has told the Special Offences Court in Ikeja, Lagos, how the Economic and Financial Crimes Commission (EFCC) arrested an alleged fake army general, Bolarinwa Abiodun, over Fraud charges in January this year.
The witness, Buhari Kobi, who is an operative of the EFCC, said the commission arrested Mr Abiodun in Lagos State after receiving a petition of N266million fraud against him.
Details of the proceedings, which held last Friday, were captured in a statement by EFCC’s spokesperson, Wilson Uwujaren, on Monday.
Mr Kobi, who was reliving the operation to the trial judge, Oluwatoyin Taiwo, said the commission received the first petition against Mr Bolarina in November 2021.
The fourth prosecution witness, Mr Kobi told the court, according to the statement, that the investigating team of the commission immediately swung into action by carrying out surveillance activities leading to the arrest of the defendant on January 12, 2022.
He said, “Attached to the petition was a letter (purportedly) signed by President Muhammadu Buhari addressed to the defendant for the appointment, the Certificate of Confirmation as the incoming Chief of Army Staff as well as the invitation for inauguration as the COAS all sent to the petitioner via WhatsApp.
“We further gathered intelligence through surveillance. And on 12th January, 2022, the suspect was arrested at his residence at Alagbado, Lagos.
“In the course of the search, several items were recovered from his house, including six pump action guns, three cartridge bullets, a swagger stick, a military ID card with the passport photo of the defendant and his name as General Bolarinwa, several forged documents and several photographs of him in the military uniform.”
According to him, four vehicles were also recovered from his house, including one Hilux, one Range Rover, one Land Cruiser and one other vehicle with OBJ1 as its number plate.
Investigative activities
He also told the court that the investigating team wrote to relevant authorities, including the State House and the Defence Headquarters to ascertain the genuineness of the documents.
He added that letters of investigation activities were also written to First Bank of Nigeria Plc, where the account of the defendant was domiciled, as well as Zenith Bank and UBA, where the accounts of the victim were domiciled.
He confirmed Exhibit A, which was already before the court as the petition, and identified the responses received from First Bank, UBA and Zenith Bank, which the court earlier admitted as exhibits.
He also identified the letter of investigation activities written to the Chief of Defence, the Chief of Army Staff, the State House as well as their responses.
Exhibits
The trial judge admitted the documents, among other items, as exhibits without objection from the defence counsel, Kayode Lawal.
The exhibits are the EFCC letter to the COAS as Exhibit F; the response from the Nigeria Army Headquarters as Exhibit G; the EFCC letter to Chief of Staff to the President as Exhibit H; the response from the State House as Exhibit J; the EFCC letter to the Chief of Defence as Exhibit K and the response from the Defence Headquarters as Exhibit L.
The search warrant executed on the defendant’s house was also admitted in evidence as Exhibit N.
Other exhibits admitted by the court include five photographs of the defendant in Army uniform.
The photographs said to have been recovered from his house were admitted as Exhibits N to N 4.
Other photographs of him posing with some military officers were admitted in evidence as Exhibits N5 to N7. Some other photographs of him in mufti were admitted in evidence as Exhibits N8 to N15, and a photo of the late Sani Abacha and the late MKO Abiola recovered from his house was admitted as Exhibit N16.
The prosecution also tendered in evidence the statements made to the investigators in the presence of his lawyer during investigations and they were admitted in evidence as Exhibits P1 to P22.
Several other items were also admitted in evidence against him by the Court, including a file jacket and several documents in which the defendant held himself out as a military officers.
Also ID card of the Nigerian Army with the defendant’s photo as Brigadier General Abiodun Bolarinwa with July 15, 2022 as expiry date was also admitted as Exhibit O.
‘No record’
Testifying on the response from the Nigeria Army Headquarters, the prosecution witness said the army authorities indicated that the defendant was not a military officer as he claimed, discrediting the Army ID card recovered from the defendant.
“Available record in the Nigerian Army revealed that there is no serving or retired officer bearing the name Brigadier General Abiodun Bolarinwa and the number on the ID card, N/30779 does not exist in the Nigerian Army database.
“Additionally, the name Oluwasegun Bolarinwa Hassan does not exist in the Nigerian Army database.
“In view of the foregoing, the two persons in question are not personnel of the Nigerian Army,” he read the correspondence from the Nigerian Army as stating.
Mr Kobi said the defendant confessed to forging the army ID card when confronted with it.
The witness further testified that the responses from the CDS, COAS and Chief of Staff indicated that the said letter of appointment as COAS “did not emanate from the Presidency; the same with the Certificate of Confirmation and purported inauguration invitation card”.
Fund transfers
The witness also testified that the investigation showed several transfers from the victim to the bank account of the defendant.
He also confirmed that the defendant effected a change of name on the account from Hassan Kareem Ayinde to Olusegun Abiodun Bolarinwa.
At the last sitting on May 5, two bank officials told the court how over N200 million was paid into the account of the defendant.
The witnesses, Chris Ekpe, a compliance officer with First Bank, and Emmanuel Emaikwo, a Relationship Manager with United Bank for Africa (UBA), both confirmed in their testimonies that various transactions were carried out on the defendant’s accounts with their respective banks.
The court has adjourned the case until June 2 and 3 for the continuation of the trial.
Charges
PREMIUM TIMES had reported that the EFCC filed the charges against the defendant and arraigned him on April 12, this year.
Mr Abiodun, who was arrested at his house in the Alagbado area of Lagos State on Wednesday, January 12, 2022, allegedly forged a letter of appointment as COAS purportedly signed by the president and showed the same to the victim to further prove his claim.
He allegedly claimed in the said letter that he needed to pay a certain amount of money into the coffers of the Federal Government of Nigeria, as part of the requirements for the appointment as COAS.
Mr Abiodun is also alleged to have, in May 2020, forged a Nigeria Army Identity Card with serial number 387140, claiming the same to have been issued to him from the Nigerian Army.
He also allegedly forged a ‘Letter of Recommendation’ purportedly signed by former President Olusegun Obasanjo recommending one Adebayo Rasaq Adebola, with recruitment No 77RRI/OG/556/0032555 and Adeogun Emmanuel Adesola with recruitment No 77RRI/OG/352/0123751 for employment into the Nigeria Army.
According to part of the charges, the EFCC said the defendant’s offence is contrary to Section 1 (3) of the Advance Fee Fraud and other Related Offences Act 2006; Section 363 of the Criminal Law of Lagos State 2015 and Section 6 of the Advance Fee Fraud and other Related Offences Act No 14 of 2006, respectively.
Mr Abidoun pleaded not guilty to all the charges.
The court, on April 25, 2022, rejected his bail application on the grounds that he constituted a flight risk.