A Lagos State High Court sitting in Ikeja has remanded a woman, Chinwendu Fidelia Ohanebo, in a correctional facility after she was arraigned by the Economic and Financial Crimes Commission (EFCC) over an alleged N42.345 million fraud.
Ohanebo was brought before Justice M.A. Lawal on Wednesday, August 12, 2026, by the Lagos Zonal Directorate 1 of the Economic and Financial Crimes Commission (EFCC) on a two-count charge bordering on obtaining money under false pretences and stealing by conversion.
The alleged fraud involved N42,345,000 belonging to Musa Muhammed Jidda, which the EFCC said was obtained in 2025 in connection with the proposed supply of Premium Motor Spirit (PMS).
According to the anti-graft agency, the defendant allegedly collected the money on the understanding that she would supply 45 litres of PMS at N941 per litre.
The first count reads: “That you CHINWENDU FIDELIA OHANEBO sometime in 2025, in Lagos, within the jurisdiction of this Honourable Court, with the intent to defraud, obtained the sum of Forty Two Million Three Hundred And Forty Five Thousand Naira (N42,345,000.00) from one Musa Muhammed Jidda, under the false pretense for the supply of 45 liters of Premium Motor Spirit (PMS) at the rate of N941 per liter and committed an offence of obtaining under false pretences contrary to Sections 1(1)(a) and 1(3) of the Advance Fee Fraud and Other Fraud Related Offences Act, 2006.”
The second count accused Ohanebo of converting the same amount to her personal use.
The second count reads: “That you CHINWENDU FIDELIA OHANEBO sometime in 2025, in Lagos, within the jurisdiction of this Honourable Court, dishonestly converted the total Forty Two Million Three Hundred And Forty Five Thousand Naira (N42,345,000.00) property of one Musa Muhammed Jidda to your own personal use and committed an offence of stealing by conversion contrary to Section 280(1) (b) and punishable under section 287 of the Criminal Law of Lagos State 2015.”
When the charges were read to her, Ohanebo pleaded “guilty” to the first count and “not guilty” to the second.
Following the plea, prosecution counsel, H.U. Kofarnaisa, requested an adjournment to allow the prosecution to commence trial on the second count. Justice Lawal subsequently adjourned the case for a review of facts relating to the first count and commencement of trial on the second count.
The court also ordered that Ohanebo be remanded in a correctional facility pending the continuation of proceedings. The case will now proceed with the court expected to consider the facts surrounding the defendant’s guilty plea on the first count while hearing the prosecution’s case on the second allegation.
