The Maiduguri Zonal Directorate of the Economic and Financial Crimes Commission (EFCC) has arraigned one Mustapha Ibn Mustapha before Justice Aisha Kumaliya of the Borno State High Court, Maiduguri.
He was arraigned on Tuesday, September 16, 2025, on a three-count charge of obtaining by false pretense and criminal conspiracy involving N5,555,000.
One of the charges reads: “That you, Mustapha Ibn Mustapha and Mohammed Habib Alkali (aka Shettima) (now at large) on or about August 2024 in Maiduguri, Borno State, within the jurisdiction of this Honourable Court, with intent to defraud obtained the sum of N5,555,000 from Grace Marcel through your bank account number 3715541016 domiciled with FCMB Bank Plc under the false pretence that same is meant for the purchase of 30 plots of land situated and laying at Njimtilo, Konduga Local Government, Borno State, purportedly belonging to you, which you knew to be false and thereby committed an offence contrary to Section 1 and punishable under Section 1(3) of the Advance Fee Fraud and Other Fraud Related Offences Act, 2006.”
The defendant pleaded not guilty when the charges were read to him.
Counsel for the defendant, S.O. Saka, requested the court to set a trial date and to remand the defendant in a correctional center.
Justice Kumaliya adjourned the case to September 23, 2025, for hearing and ordered that the defendant be remanded.
According to the EFCC, Mustapha’s journey to the correctional facility began when he allegedly sold government-owned land located behind Borno State University in Konduga to the petitioner without delivering the property.
Efforts by the petitioner to recover the money reportedly failed, leading to his arrest and arraignment.
