EFCC Charges Individual with N1.6 Million Fraud in Maiduguri

On Tuesday, May 13, 2025, the Maiduguri Zonal Directorate of the Economic and Financial Crimes Commission (EFCC) brought charges against Alhaji Abba Umar before Justice Aisha Kumaliya at the Borno State High Court in Maiduguri.

Umar faces a single charge of criminal misappropriation involving the sum of N1,600,000.00 (One Million Six Hundred Thousand Naira). According to the charge, "You, Alhaji Abba Umar, on or around March 2022 in Maiduguri, Borno State, within the jurisdiction of this Honourable Court, unlawfully persuaded Modu Goni Sheriff to hand over his title document for a 450-square-meter plot of land with occupancy rights number BO/46605/4, dated 19/03/2002, registered in the name of Mohammed Goni Umar.

You subsequently sold this land to another individual for N1,600,000.00 (One Million Six Hundred Thousand Naira) without delivering the property, thereby committing an offense in violation of Section 320 (a) and punishable under Section 322 of the Penal Code, Cap 102, Laws of Borno State." When the charge was presented, Umar pleaded 'not guilty.' Following this, the prosecuting counsel, S.O. Saka, requested a trial date and sought to have the defendant remanded in a Correctional Centre. Justice Kumaliya scheduled the next hearing for June 4, 2025, and ordered that Umar be held at a Maiduguri Correctional Centre. Umar's legal troubles stem from his involvement in the illegal sale of land for which he was given title documents by the rightful owner.