Nigeria’s anti-corruption agency, the Economic and Financial Crimes Commission (EFCC), has re-arraigned Fred Ajudua, one of Nigeria’s most notorious fraud titans, over an alleged $9.3million scam. The agency brought Mr. Ajudua again before a Lagos State High Court on Friday, November 28, 2014 on a 28-count set of amended charges.
The re-arraignment of Mr. Ajudua, a lawyer by profession, is the second time in the last eight months. Prosecutors accuse the suspect of defrauding a former Chief of Army Staff, General Ishaya Bamaiyi (ret).
The EFCC alleges that Mr. Ajudua had duped Mr. Bamaiyi of several millions dollars and millions of naira while the two men were being held at Kirikiri maximum-security prison between November 2004 and March 2005. Mr. Bamaiyi was apparently scammed because of his desperation to influence the case against him. Mr. Bamaiyi reportedly paid huge sums in tranches to Mr. Ajudua, after the latter had boasted of his capacity to turn around the case against the former general.
According to the EFCC, Mr. Ajudua obtained the funds through false pretenses.
There was a mild drama at yesterday’s re-arraignment as Mr. Ajudua refused to enter a plea to the amended charges. He told the court that he had to wait for his other lawyer, Olalekan Ojo, to arrive before he would respond. Alex Agbaka, his defense counsel who was present in court at the time, immediately indicated he was withdrawing from the case, noting that his erstwhile client preferred another lawyer to represent him.
But the trial judge, Oluwatoyin Ipaye, refused to allow Mr. Agbaka to step down. She said the court had no luxury of time to wait for Mr. Ojo. Justice Ipaye thereafter ordered the court registrar to call out the charges and to enter a “not guilty” plea for Mr. Ajudua. She then adjourned the case till January 2015 for trial.
Mr. Ajudua has been linked to a series of fraud cases for many years. In 2004, he had fled from Nigeria to evade trial in an ongoing court case. At the time, he had been arraigned for allegedly defrauding two Dutch businessmen to the tune of $1.6 million. He was re-arrested and arraigned again in 2013. He claimed he had gone to India for medical treatment during the years he had been a fugitive from justice.
The charges were eventually dismissed and Mr. Ajudua was exonerated by a Federal High Court presided over by Justice Kudirat Jose.