EFCC arraigns two women, man over alleged N156.9m fraud in Lagos

A statement by the agency said the defendants, identified as Chukwu Amaka Goodness, Ajijie Ferdinand Eri and Enyeribe Precious, were brought before Justice D.I. Dipeolu at the court sitting in Ikoyi on Friday, November 6, 2026.

The EFCC Lagos Zonal Directorate 2 arraigned them on a 14-count charge involving the alleged sum of N156,922,521.70.

One of the charges against the first and second defendants, Goodness and Eri, accused them of conspiring in March 2025 to retain N75 million in an account allegedly nominated by them.

The charge reads, “That you, Chukwu Amaka Goodness and Ajijie Ferdinand Eri, sometime in March 2025, in Lagos, within the jurisdiction of this Honourable Court, conspired amongst yourselves to commit an offence to wit: retention of the total sum of N75,000,000.00 (Seventy-Five Million Naira) in an account nominated by you with account name ‘Ajijie Ferdinand’ and account number 6013401684, domiciled in Moniepoint Microfinance Bank, which sum you reasonably ought to have known forms part of the proceeds of your unlawful act, to wit: stealing, and you thereby committed an offence contrary to and punishable under Section 21(a) of the Money Laundering (Prohibition and Prevention) Act, 2022.”

Another count accused the two defendants of conspiring to retain N38,364,921.70 in an account bearing the name ‘Ferdinand Ajijie’ and number 2729506481, domiciled in Zenith Bank Plc.

The charge reads, “That you, Chukwu Amaka Goodness and Ajijie Ferdinand Eri, sometime in March 2025, in Lagos, within the jurisdiction of this Honourable Court, conspired amongst yourselves to commit an offence to wit: retention of the total sum of N38,364,921.70 (Thirty-Eight Million, Three Hundred and Sixty Four Thousand, Nine Hundred and Twenty-One Naira, Seventy Kobo) in an account nominated by you with account name ‘Ferdinand Ajijie’ and account number 2729506481, domiciled in Zenith Bank Plc., which sum you reasonably ought to have known forms part of the proceeds of your unlawful act, to wit, stealing, and you thereby committed an offence contrary to and punishable under Section 21(a) of the Money Laundering (Prohibition and Prevention) Act, 2022.”

The third defendant, Precious, was separately accused of fraudulently converting household electronics worth N7.823 million belonging to Bonnibel Ugochi.

According to the charge, the alleged offence occurred between February 21 and March 2, 2026, in Lagos. The electronics were identified as the property of Ugochi.

The charge reads, “That you, Enyeribe Precious, from February 21 to March 2, 2026, in Lagos, within the jurisdiction of this Honourable Court, fraudulently converted to your use Edet Eyo household electronics worth N7,823,000 (Seven Million, Eight Hundred and Twenty-Three Thousand Naira), property of Bonnibel Ugochi, and you thereby committed an offence contrary to Section 383 and punishable under Section 390 of the Criminal Code Act, CAP C.38, Laws of the Federation of Nigeria, 2004.”

When the charges were read to them, Goodness and Eri pleaded not guilty to 13 of the 14 counts but admitted guilt on the remaining count.

Precious also pleaded guilty to the charge brought against her.

Following their pleas, the prosecution counsel, Suleiman I. Suleiman, asked the court to fix a date for trial and prayed that the defendants be remanded in a correctional centre.

Justice Dipeolu subsequently adjourned the case until November 18 and 20, 2026.

The dates were fixed for the commencement of trial involving Goodness and Eri, while the court is expected to review the facts in the case against Precious.

The judge ordered that Eri be remanded at the Ikoyi Correctional Centre, while Goodness and Precious were sent to the Kirikiri Correctional Centre.