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N10m fraud : Court grants Lanre Smith N30m bail for defaulting his Old team mates of Island Football Club
A Federal High Court sitting in Lagos on Tuesday granted N30m bail to a businessman, Lanre Smith, accused of N10m fraud.
Justice Ibrahim Kala granted the bail following a motion filed and argued by the defendant’s lawyer, Akin Apara.
Apara who pleaded with the court to admit the defendant to bail on liberal terms stated that Smith was still presumed innocent until otherwise proved.
The judge agreed with the defence’s submission and granted bail to the defendant in the sum of N30m, with two sureties in like sum.
Kala said one of the sureties must be a Grade Level 14 at a government establishment and second, must be a landed property owner within the court’s jurisdiction.
He also ordered that Smith should submit his passport with the court’s deputy chief registrar.
However, after granting the defendant bail, trial commenced and the prosecution counsel, Mike Enejere, called the first witness, Stephen Ogunlola, an operative of Interpol Section of Force CID Annex, Alagbon.
Ogunlola told the court that after the conclusion of investigation, findings emerged and that the nominal complainant and the defendant were old team mates from the defunct Island Football Club.
He said the defendant had approached the complainant for a foreign transaction, and that the complainant availed his Well Fargo Account in the US for the transfer of the forex funds.
The witness said, “That the bone of contention from our investigation was the transaction of $26,000 which the account of the nominal complainant is under investigation by the authority in US.”
Apara, who cross-examined Ogunlola, tendered a statement made by Ogunlola who had also testified as the first prosecution witness before Justice Ayokunle Faji, in the same case involving one Precious Usifo, where he had stated that the “culprit, Usifo Precious, residing in Benin has paid back the money. So, my investigation did not review anything wrong done by Mr Lanre Smith.”
Ogunlola also told the court that the defendant had in his statement of facts, stated that: “He met the nominal complainant, Okwudili Okeke, sometime in March 2014 in a football club in Lekki where they are both members.
“Okwudili Okeke sometime in 2016 approached him to help source for the sum of $40,000 or more. And that he had informed Okeke not to pay dollar equivalent until the dollars had been delivered.
“He approached one Mr. Ahmed Mukhaila who had informed him that the dollars were available for sale in the United States. And that he had informed Mukhaila that he will only accept cash from him so as to be certain that the funds were legitimately his.
“Mukhaila initially paid the sum of $20, 000 to Okwudili Okeke’s Wilok Wells Fargo account in the United States and provided him with the deposit slip showing the cash deposit which he then sent to Okeke,” the witness said.
The witness also told the court that Okeke paid the fair market value for the dollars to Pay Express, a company not operated by him (but the company that was introduced by Ahmed Mukhaila to him). This money was then forwarded to Mukhaila. And Mukhaila thereafter provided him with a deposit slip for $26,000.
According to him, upon seeing the said slip, Okeke noticed that it was not a cash deposit and he immediately called Mukhaila to express his displeasure and instructed that the same be recalled.
“Mukhaila thereafter put him on a conference call with some of his Bureau de Change colleagues who confirmed that the reason for the bankers’ cheque deposit was as a result of the volume of the money and that the bank will not accept cash deposit of the said volume.
“Okeke then insisted that Mukhaila and his colleagues should sign an agreement to the effect that the said money is legitimate and that they will indemnify Smith against any liability as a result of the funds.
“Interpol invited Mukhaila and his colleagues which include Awulu Hassan, Saidi Paki, Huzeni Taeeb, Adigure Chares, Elizabeth Aruoma and Anthony Ojo, who confirmed that they sold the $26,000 in question,” he said.
Smith was arraigned on January 30, 2024, before the court by the police. He is facing charges of alleged conspiracy and fraud preferred against him by the police.
The police prosecutor, Mr Mike Enejere, told the court that the defendant and others at large had sometime in August 2016, conspired among themselves and conducted a financial transaction which involved proceeds of unlawful activity.
However, the defendant, who is the founder of Grocedy Limited, pleaded not guilty to the charges.
The case has been adjourned till March 24, for continuation of trial.
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Update : FG, States, LGs Share N1.894trn February Revenue from Federation Account
The Federation Account Allocation Committee (FAAC) has shared a total of N1.894 trillion among the three tiers of government as federation allocation for February 2026.
According to a statement issued on Friday by the Federal Ministry of Finance, the distribution was made from a gross revenue of N2.230 trillion generated during the month.
From the amount shared, the Federal Government received N675.086 billion, the 36 states received N651.525 billion, while the 774 local government councils got N456.467 billion. Oil-producing states also received an additional N110.949 billion as derivation revenue, representing 13 per cent of mineral proceeds.
The statement further disclosed that N77.302 billion was paid to revenue-generating agencies as the cost of collection, while N259.078 billion was allocated for transfers, interventions and refunds.
The ministry explained that gross revenue from Value Added Tax (VAT) for February stood at N668.450 billion, compared to N1.083 trillion distributed in the preceding month, indicating a decline of N414.710 billion.
From the VAT revenue, N26.738 billion was deducted as cost of collection, while N22.593 billion was set aside for transfers, interventions and refunds.
The remaining N619.119 billion was shared among the three tiers of government, with the Federal Government receiving N61.912 billion, the states N340.515 billion and local government councils N216.692 billion.
Similarly, the gross statutory revenue of N1.561 trillion recorded in February was lower than the N1.957 trillion received in the previous month, representing a decrease of N395.138 billion.
From the statutory revenue, N50.564 billion was deducted as cost of collection, while N236.485 billion was allocated for transfers, interventions and refunds.
The balance of N1.274 trillion was distributed as follows: the Federal Government received N613.174 billion, states got N311.010 billion, and local governments received N239.776 billion, while N110.949 billion was allocated as derivation revenue to oil-producing states.
New tax regime designed to boost growth, ease burden on Nigerians — Experts
The ministry noted that revenue from oil and gas royalty as well as excise duty recorded significant increases during the period.
However, it added that collections from Petroleum Profit Tax (PPT), Hydrocarbon Tax (HT), Companies Income Tax (CIT), Capital Gains Tax (CGT), Stamp Duties (SDT) and Value Added Tax (VAT) declined substantially during the month under review.
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Contempt of Court: How Onwukwem and Associates Ended Up in Jail in Lagos
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In what looked like a syndicate, a Lagos Lanlord, Mr. Lawrence Onwukwem and his gang, who specialise in swindling innocent Nigerians through properties in their care, have run into trouble and earned jail terms for fraud and illegal eviction of a couple, Mr. Olusola Alabi and his wife, Mrs. Olufunmilola Alabi, who rented an apartment from them and were summarily frustrated.
Like a thief whose time of reckoning has come, Onwukwem, alongside his accomplice; Mr. Davies Ijele, Mr. Sodiq Kazeem, and Ms. Peace Igbo, who operates under Green Birch Tech Ltd, was recently jailed for six months each by a Lagos Chief Magistrates’ Court, sitting in Eti-Osa for contempt of court.
The imprisonment of the defendants is due to the contemptuous order of the court. The court held them in contempt, which they displayed all through the court proceedings.
In the charges, marked MISC/MCE/07/2023, the court invoked Section 44(1)(a) of the Tenancy Law of Lagos State 2011 as amended against the Defendants by convicting the Directors of the 1st Defendant (including the 2nd Defendant, Mr. Lawrence Onwukwem (Managing Director) and Mr. Isaiah Davies ljele) and one Sodiq Kazeem, the Estate Manager and one Ms. Chidinmma Igbo, all of the 1st Defendant, for forceful ejection of the Claimant/Applicant for the three (3) Bedroom flat and one (1) Room Boys Quarters with appurtenances situate, lying and being at Block A, Flat 3, No. 96B, Ladipo Omotosho Cole Street, Lekki I, Eti-Osa, Lagos State held by the Claimant/Applicant as a yearly tenant of the 1st Defendant/Respondent by unlawfully trespassing into the said Apartment, forcing the door open, and removing the Claimant’s furniture and electronics, beddings, refrigerator, air conditioners and gas cooker with gas cylinder, etc. and changing the keys to the entrance door, without any Lawful authority of any Order of any Court of competent jurisdiction, whilst the Claimant’s Suit No: MISC/MCE/07/2023: and the 1st Defendant/Respondent’s Suit No: MCE165/CIV/2024 were pending before the Court.
Delivering the judgement, the Chief Magistrate, Kikelomo Olaiya Doja-Ojo, on June 5, 2025, said that Lawrence Onwukwem, Hon. Davies Ijele, Mr Sodiq Kazeem and Ms Peace Chidinma Igbo, were to be sentenced to six months in correctional centre for continuously flaunting the order of the court while also mandated to pay the sum of N250,000 each to the court.
“The claimant is to be restored back to possession. All her belongings removed are to be returned to her immediately,” the CTC read.
Meanwhile, since the court judgement, the couple claimed that only Kazeem is already serving the jail term at Ikoyi Correctional Centre, while the other three have since gone into hiding.
Reacting to the judgement, the couple said that disputes arose following an alleged breach of the tenancy agreement by the landlord, prompting Mrs. Alabi to seek legal redress in court.
The couple said that while the tenancy matter was still pending in court, Mr. Onwukwem and his partners unlawfully broke into the apartment, removed their properties valued at N25million, and subsequently rented out the flat to another tenant.
When this reporter reached out to Mr Lawrence and Ijele for comments, their telephone lines were unreachable.
However, Igbo denied allegations that she was arrested and charged to court for failing to produce Mr Kazeem.
She refuted claims that she stood as surety for Kaeem , insisting that she never signed any legal documents in that capacity.
“They have spoilt my name and career. I don’t know how to reach them. They have issue with a particular person and why involving me instead of meeting those concerned directly. I know nothing about it,” she said.
“For the record, I didn’t sign in as a surety…I was working as a secretary and HR for the firm. I was not a lawyer in that instance. I was in law school in 2021”
She, however, acknowledged that steps have been taken to address the matter, including efforts to obtain a remand order.
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Breaking : UK Tightens Security With Road Closures, No-Fly Zones for Tinubu’s Visit
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Britain will impose airspace restrictions and deploy armed police officers in Windsor next week as President Bola Tinubu arrives for a state visit hosted by King Charles III.
Tinubu is expected to begin the visit in the company of his wife Oluremi Tinubu on Wednesday, March 18, with a reception at Windsor Castle.
Thames Valley Police in a statement on its website on Wednesday, said it is working with the Royal Borough of Windsor and Maidenhead, the Royal Household and other security partners.
The force said airspace restrictions over Windsor Castle, which are in place permanently throughout the year, would be extended on Wednesday, March 18, to cover the period from 7am to 11.59pm.
Chief Superintendent Adrian Hall of Thames Valley Police’s Joint Operations Unit said the air restrictions formed part of a broader security operation for the visit.
“The air restrictions are just one part of our robust security operation for the state visit of Nigerian President Tinubu next week, with many measures you will see and others you will not..
“As a force, we have a vast amount of experience in policing Royal events in Windsor and significant planning, and preparation has gone into this event,” Hall said.
He said the force would take a strong stance in enforcing the restrictions, warning that any breach would constitute a criminal offence under the Air Navigation Order and could lead to arrest.
“We will be taking a strong stance in enforcing the restrictions; anyone who breaches them will be committing a criminal offence under the Air Navigation Order and could be arrested.”
The police chief said officers with specialist capabilities, including search teams, the Mounted Section, road policing, and armed units, would be deployed across Windsor, alongside neighbourhood policing and Project Servator resources.
“We will also be deploying numerous police officers to Windsor with specialist capabilities, including our search teams, Mounted Section, Roads Policing and armed units, while our neighbourhood and Project Servator resources will also be on the ground engaging with the public,” he said.
The authorities will also deploy an extensive closed-circuit television network, hostile vehicle mitigation barriers, and other undisclosed security measures for the event.
Hall said, “We will also be using the extensive CCTV network in Windsor, Hostile Vehicle Mitigation barriers, and many other security measures that you may not be able to see to make sure the event runs safely.”
He urged members of the public to support the security operation by remaining vigilant.
“The public plays a critical role to support us so we encourage them to report any suspicious activity or anything that does not seem quite right by calling 101 or speaking to one of our officers. If there is an immediate threat or emergency, then call 999,” Hall added.
Road closures and parking restrictions will take effect from Tuesday, March 17, with possible temporary disruption to roads in and around Windsor during the visit.
Thames Valley Police said it was being supported by the Civil Aviation Authority and National Air Traffic Services to enforce the flight restrictions. Persons with legitimate reasons for drone flying were directed to email [email protected].
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