Man faces 57 charges over ₦56.5m Hajj fraud
The EFCC has arraigned Lawal Musa for allegedly defrauding 10 cattle breeders of ₦56.5 million meant for the 2023 Hajj pilgrimage.
The Economic and Financial Crimes Commission (EFCC) has arraigned Lawal Musa on allegations of defrauding 10 cattle breeders of ₦56.5 million meant for the 2023 Hajj pilgrimage. Musa was arraigned on Thursday before the Oyo State High Court in Ibadan on 57 charges for stealing by conversion, forgery and uttering of documents.
According to a statement issued on Friday by Dele Oyewale, the EFCC Head of Media and Publicity, Musa allegedly collected the sum of ₦56.5 million paid by Ibrahim Shuaibu for the Hajj pilgrimage of 10 people after claiming that he worked for the Kaduna State Government and could facilitate the pilgrims’ participation in the 2023 Hajj.
The alleged victims, the commission said, are cattle breeders and rearers operating in the Oke-Ogun area of Oyo State. The commission also accused Musa of forging Kaduna State Pilgrims Welfare Agency receipts and presenting them as genuine. One of the counts alleged that the defendant “forged a Kaduna State Pilgrims Welfare Agency Receipt Number: 0013041 in the name of Jibril Adamu with intent that it may be acted upon as genuine”.
Musa pleaded not guilty to all charges read to him before Justice Olusola Adetujoye. After his plea, EFCC counsel, Bashir Shamsudeen, asked the court to set a trial date and remand the defendant to a correctional facility. Defence counsel, Kehinde Adegbola, told the court that he had filed a bail application seeking the release of his client on liberal terms. Justice Adetujoye adjourned the case until 17 August for hearing of the bail application and ordered that Musa be remanded at the Agodi Correctional Centre, Ibadan.
This is not the first time the EFCC has pursued Hajj fraudsters. The 2019 Hajj season also saw several arrests for similar offences. The mechanism then was different, but the result was the same: vulnerable pilgrims being defrauded by those who claim to have connections to government.
The winners: the EFCC, which has secured an arraignment; and the Nigerian judicial system, which is processing the case. The losers: the 10 cattle breeders who lost their life savings, and the reputation of the Hajj process, which remains tainted by fraud.
Bottom Line: A man has been arraigned for defrauding pilgrims of ₦56.5 million. The question is whether the victims will ever see their money again.