Alleged Producers, Sellers of Fake Dollars Remanded in EFCC Custody

AFederal High Court, Ikoyi, Lagos, presided over by Justice Kehinde Ogundare, yesterday, remanded three men in the custody of the Economic and Financial Crimes Commission (EFCC), pending their arraignment for allegedly producing and selling fake dollars. In the charge designated FHC/L/79C/2024, the 1st to 3rd defendants are Benjamin Opara, Iliyasu Garba and Joseph Ude.

The judge arrived at the decision following the absence of Opara’s counsel. When the case was called, the counsel for the anti-graft agency, Temitope Banjo, informed the judge of the five- count slammed against the defendants. He then prayed the court to read the charge to the defendants so that they could take their plea. But Abdulmalik Ibrahim, the counsel for the second defendant, Garba, hinted to the court that the 1st defendant’s counsel was not in court, which meant that the arraignment could not go on.

The counsel then urged the court to allow the defendants to continue on the administrative bail earlier granted to them by the EFCC. However, in his ruling, Justice Ogundare held that since the defendants’ arraignment was stalled by the defence, they should be remanded in the EFCC’s custody pending arraignment. Justice Ogundare adjourned until March 6, 2024, for arraignment.