Crime
Alleged Forgery: Court Frees Fani-Kayode, Says He Has No Case To Answer
The Special Offences Court sitting in Ikeja, Lagos, has acquitted and discharged a former Minister of Aviation, Femi Fani-Kayode, of the charge of medical forgery levelled against him by the Economic and Financial Crimes Commission (EFCC).
Justice Olubumni Abike-Fadipe who freed the former minister while delivering ruling on the no case submission filed by his counsel held that the prosecution failed to establish a prima facie case against him.
The court upheld the no case-submission filed by his counsel, Norrison Quakers (SAN) and ruled that Fani-Kayode had no case to answer as the EFCC did not link him to the offence.
In her ruling, Justice Abike Fadipe said that the prosecution failed to present the defendant’s associates who collected money from him or the lawyer who claimed that the defendant had instructed his law firm to take the medical reports to the Federal High Court.
The judge said: “The extrajudicial statements which remain, and which are intended as evidence, cannot be used for any purpose other than to contradict the person who made the statement when he is in the witness box.
“I have carefully studied the evidence of the prosecution witnesses and I cannot find where the defendant committed the offences being alleged.“
The prosecution has failed to establish a prima facie case which would require the defendant to open his defence.
”The judge consequently acquitted and discharged the defendant on the alleged offences.
Speaking to journalist after his discharge, Fani-Kayode expressed gratitude and relief on the verdict, stating that he has been in and out of court for the past 18 years and he feels overjoyed that he is finally free.
Before the court, Fani-Kayode was facing 12 a count charge brought against him by the EFCC following his alleged use of forged medical report(s), which he tendered before Justice Daniel Osiagor of the Federal High Court sitting in Ikoyi, Lagos, where he was being prosecuted by the EFCC for an alleged N4.9billion fraud.
One of the counts reads: “That you, Femi Fani-Kayode, on or about the 11th day of October, 2021 in Lagos, within the jurisdiction of this Honourable Court, by fraudulently used a false document titled: Medical Report on Olufemi Fani-Kayode 60 Years/Male/Hosp.
No. 00345 DATED 11/10/2021 before the Federal High Court, Lagos Judicial Division in charge No. FHC/L/251C/2016 which document you purported to have been issued by Kubwa General Hospital.
”Another count reads: “That you, Femi Fani-Kayode, on or about the 23rd day of March, 2021 in Lagos, within the jurisdiction of this Honourable Court, fraudulently used a false document titled: To Whom It May Concern Re: Femi Fani-Kayode Male/60 Years Hospital.
No. 32145 Dated 23rd March 2021 before the Federal High Court, Lagos Judicial Division in charge No. FHC/L/251C/2016 which document you purported to have been issued by Kubwa General Hospital.”
The EFCC noted that procuring and execution of documents by false pretence is contrary to section 369 of the Criminal Law of Lagos State 2015.
During the trial, the management of Kubwa General Hospital, Abuja had denied admitting Femi Fani-Kayode as one of its patients.
Through its head of medical records, Bassey Amah, the hospital management told Justice Olubunmi Abike-Fadipe that a medical report presented in court by the former minister was not issued by the hospital.
Amah who testified before the court as first prosecution witness in the case said that Fani-Kayode is not a patient and has no medical report in the hospital.
A second prosecution witness, Abidat Bukola told the court how the former Minister of Aviation, allegedly gave her N820,000 to procure 4 forged medical reports.
The witness testified that Fani-Kayode at different times paid her the sums of N120,000, N150,000, N250,000 and N300,000 for the forged medical reports.
She also claimed that the former minister dictated what the content of the medical reports should be.
The former minister, however, denied the allegations.
In December 2024, he filed a no case submission and urged the court to acquit him while submitting that the prosecution had failed to establish the charge against him.
The Department of State Services (DSS) has arrested Faisal Abdulrasheed Maina, the fugitive son of former Pension Reform Task Team chairman Abdulrasheed Maina, and handed him over to the Economic and Financial Crimes Commission (EFCC).
Security sources said Faisal, who had been on the run since 2020, was trailed and apprehended by DSS operatives in the Karsana area of Abuja after intelligence indicated he had secretly returned to the country.
Faisal was earlier prosecuted by the EFCC on a three-count charge of money laundering and conspiracy. He jumped bail and fled the country. His trial continued in his absence, and in 2021 Justice Okon Abang convicted and sentenced him to 14 years’ imprisonment.
The court ordered that he be arrested wherever found in Nigeria and remanded in a correctional centre to serve his sentence. It also directed that, if located abroad, the Federal Government should take lawful steps to secure his extradition.
A source said the handover to the EFCC would facilitate enforcement of the court’s judgment and ensure Faisal serves his prison term.
Three others escape with gunshot injuries…..
Operatives of the Department of State Services (DSS), the military and the police have arrested five suspected members of a criminal gang allegedly responsible for the abduction of 20 National Youth Service Corps (NYSC) members in Imo State.
The suspects were apprehended during a series of intelligence-led operations carried out between October 10 and 14 in Port Harcourt, Rivers State, and Aba South Local Government Area of Abia State. Three other suspects escaped during the raids with varying degrees of gunshot injuries.
The 20 corps members were abducted by armed men along the Owerri–Onitsha Expressway in Imo State on October 1, 2026 — Nigeria’s 66th Independence Day — while travelling to their orientation camps in Abia and Akwa Ibom states. They were rescued on October 7 during a joint security operation at Amakohia Ubi Village.
Security sources described the latest arrests as a major breakthrough in the effort to dismantle the network behind the abduction and bring the perpetrators to justice.
“This is a huge sigh of relief. Security agencies have been on a sustained manhunt for the abductors, and we are elated that they have been captured. We strongly believe they will be charged to court by the DSS and the corps members will get justice,” a security source said.
Crime
‘Stop Giving Testimony In Church, And Why’ – Police IRT Commander
The commander cautioned against assuming that everyone attending church had good intentions, urging worshippers to exercise discretion when sharing sensitive personal information in public gatherings.
A commander of the Nigeria Police Force Intelligence Response Team (IRT) has cautioned churchgoers against publicly disclosing details of their personal lives and achievements during church services.
The commander gave the warning during an IRT briefing on TV Platinum on Thursday, particularly cautioning worshippers attending evening services at churches on the outskirts of towns.
He said publicly sharing personal achievements before a congregation whose intentions were unknown could make worshippers vulnerable to criminal attacks, particularly when returning home after night services.
“After closing from evening service, such act that they plan will be implemented. You can’t go to a church located on the outskirts, and you go to evening prayer, and close in the evening, coming down to your home, after making testimony of what you have achieved in life,” he said.
The commander cautioned against assuming that everyone attending church had good intentions, urging worshippers to exercise discretion when sharing sensitive personal information in public gatherings.
“It doesn’t conform with common sense and rationality in the midst of gathering of people watching you, thinking that they are all men of God. No. Everybody has his own motive of going to the church,” he said.
The commander further called on churches that hold evening services to strengthen their security arrangements, particularly by monitoring access routes and exits to protect congregants before and after worship.
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