EFCC Arraigns Onitsha Market Leader Over Alleged N6.7m Fraud

The Economic and Financial Crimes Commission (EFCC), Enugu Zonal Command, has brought charges against Obinna Calistus Okoli, the Chairman of Onitsha/Odekpe Plastic Market Association, for an alleged fraud amounting to N6,700,000. Okoli was arraigned before the Federal High Court in Awka, Anambra State on Tuesday, February 13, 2024.

He faces a two-count charge alongside Onitsha/Odekpe Plastic Market Association, relating to obtaining money under false pretense between May 2018 and July 2020. The charges accuse Okoli of inducing Mr. Joseph Okechukwu Enyiuche to deliver N6,700,000 with the false promise of allocating four shops in a proposed lock-up stalls/shops to be built at watermelon land in Onitsha.

Both Okoli and the association pleaded not guilty to the charges during the arraignment. The EFCC’s counsel, Nuradeen Shehu Ingawa, requested a trial date and urged the court to remand the defendants in the Correctional Centre. The defense counsel, E. O. Igowe, orally applied for bail, but Ingawa vehemently opposed it, emphasizing the court’s status as a court of records.

Justice Dimgba adjourned the case to Friday, February 16, 2024, for the hearing of the bail application, and the defendants were remanded in EFCC custody.

The arrest of Okoli by EFCC operatives followed a petitioner’s claim that Okoli fraudulently obtained N6,700,000, promising to secure four lock-up shops at a proposed mall on watermelon land in Anambra. The petitioner alleged that Okoli failed to allocate the promised shops and all attempts to retrieve the money proved futile.