Two women, Blessing Chima and Williams Chikamson, were today arraigned before a Lagos Federal High Court, on charges of alleged obtaining by false pretence, stealing and receiving the stolen sum of N140 million.
The two women who are 47 years of age, were arraigned on the alleged crimes before the court presided over by Justice Ambrose Lewis-Allagoa, in a charge marked FHC/L/709c/2024, by the operatives of the Force Criminal Investigation Department (ForceCID) Annex Alagbon-Ikoyi Lagos.
Barrister Oladiran Ayodele, the prosecutor, while arraigning the two women, to the court they committed the offences between July 4 and 5, 2024, in Lagos.
The prosecutor told the court that the first defendant, Blessing Chima, with an intent to commit the acts, fraudulently obtained the mentioned sum in three tranches of N25 million, N50 morning and N75 million from one Mr. Lanre Afebuameh of Continental Lithium Limited, with the pretence of changing it to Chinese currency and also transfer same to Mr. Lanre Afebuameh’s business partners.
The prosecutor also informed the court that the second defendant, received the said stolen sum from the first defendant, Blessing Chima.
The prosecutor told the court that the alleged illegal acts of the defendants, contravened sections 1(1)(c) and punishable under section 1(3) the Advance fee Fraud and other related offences Act 2006, Laws of the Federation of Nigeria. And section 383 and 427, and punishable under section 390(9) the Criminal Code Act, Cap C38, Laws of the Federation of Nigeria, 2004,
The two women, denied the allegations and pleaded not guilty to the charges.
Following the defendants’ not guilty plea, their lawyers, Mr. A. O. Johnson and E. Etudo, informed the court that they have filed the defendants’ bail applications.
However, prosecutor informed the court that counsel to the first defendant just served him his client’s bail application while in court, and that he needs time to go through it and filed his counter if necessary.
The prosecutor however said he had gone through the second defendant’s application and leave it to court’s discretion.
But upon intervention of the court, the prosecutor also leaves the court to decide on the first defendants’ bail application.
Upon the moving the defendants’ bail applications by their respective lawyers, Justice Lewis-Allagoa rules as follows, “bail is granted to each of the defendants in the sum of N100 million with one surety each”.
The surety according to the judge, must be a landed property owner within the court’s jurisdiction.
The judge, while adjourning the matter to December 10, for commencement trial, orders that the two defendants be remanded at the Kirikiri female Section of the Nigerian Correctional Services (NCoS), pending the perfection of the bail terms.
Count One And Three Of the Charge Reads: “that you (1) Blessing Chima ‘F’ on the 4th and 5th of July, 2024, in Lagos within the Lagos Judicial Division of the Federal High Court, did by false pretense and with intent to defraud, obtained the sum of Twenty Five Million Naira (N25, 000, 000:00) and the sum of Fifty Million Naira (#50, 000, 000:00) respectively from one Mr Lanre Afebuameh of under the guise of exchanging the sum of money to Chinese currency which will be sent to his Clients in China, a representation you knew to be and theret committed an offence contrary to section 1(1)(c) and punishable under section 1(3) the Advance fee Fraud and other related offences Act 2006, Laws of the Federation of Nigeria.
“That you Williams Chikamson ‘F’ sometimes in 2024 received the sum of One Hundred and Forty Million Naira (N140, 000, 000: 00k) which belongs to one Mr. Lanre Afebuameh which was stolen from him by one Blessing Chima and thereby committed an offence contrary to section 427 of the Criminal Code Act, Cap C38 Laws of the Federation of Nigeria, 2004.”
