EFCC Arraigns Couple, 2 Others For ‘Impersonating’ Katsina First Lady In N197m Fraud
The Economic and Financial Crimes Commission (EFCC) has arraigned a couple—Baba Sule Abubakar Sadiq and Hafsat Kabir Lawal—along with two others, Abdullahi Bala and Ladani Akindele, before Justice Amina Bello of the Kaduna State High Court. They face charges of obtaining money by false pretense, money laundering, and stealing a total of N197,750,000.
The defendants were arraigned on six counts on Monday, March 10, 2025, related to a fraudulent scheme that involved impersonating the wife of the governor of Katsina State, Fatima Dikko Radda. They allegedly defrauded their victims by deceiving them into believing they were dealing with the first lady, among other fraudulent activities.
The suspects were initially arrested by officers of the Department of State Services (DSS) and later transferred to the EFCC after the case was identified as involving financial crimes.
One of the charges read:
“That you Hafsat Kabir Lawal, Babasule Abubakar Sadiq, Abdullahi Bala, Ladani Akindele Ayodele, sometimes in December 2024 at Kaduna within the jurisdiction of this honorable court with intent to defraud did obtain the sum of N89,000,000.00 (Eighty-Nine Million Naira Only) from Aminu Usman, which money you caused to be paid into the Taj Bank PLC account number 0009914725, belonging to Abdullahi Bala, under the false pretense that you had the sum of $53,300 (Fifty-three Thousand Three Hundred United States Dollars) to exchange for the Naira equivalent, knowing the pretense to be false.”
The defendants pleaded not guilty to the charges. In response to their pleas, prosecution counsel, Bright C. Ogbonna, requested a trial date and asked the court to remand the defendants in a correctional facility.
Lawyers for the defendants—M.S. Katu, SAN (1st and 2nd defendants), Jazuli Mustapha (3rd defendant), and Paul A. Okachi (4th defendant)—informed the court that they had filed bail applications for their clients and were ready to proceed with the case. However, Ogbonna opposed the bail applications, arguing that they were not yet ripe for hearing. The defense counsel requested the court to allow an oral application for bail.
After considering the submissions, Justice Bello sided with the prosecution, ruling that the defendants be remanded in custody. The court adjourned the matter to March 17, 2025, for the hearing of the bail applications.
Investigations revealed that Hafsat, impersonating the wife of the governor, contacted petitioners and deceived them into parting with large sums of money. She allegedly obtained N89,000,000 from a petitioner, claiming she had $53,300 to exchange for Naira. Further fraudulent dealings saw her acquiring another N108,000,000 under similar false pretenses.
The investigation also showed that Hafsat’s husband, Sadiq, played a key role by registering two SIM cards under the name “Fatima Dikko Radda” using TrueCaller, then contacting the fourth defendant, Ladani Akindele, to obtain the contact number of a bureau de change operator. Hafsat used this number to further defraud the victim, Aminu Usman, accumulating a total of N197,750,000.
The stolen funds were deposited into Abdullahi Bala’s bank account and were later allegedly distributed among the defendants and laundered using various methods.
