 has arraigned four individuals—Solomon Yohanna, Shedrach Naphtali, Hassan Mohammed.){kind=link}
The Economic and Financial Crimes Commission (EFCC) has arraigned four individuals—Solomon Yohanna, Shedrach Naphtali, Hassan Mohammed, and Abdullahi Abubakar—before Justice Hammed Isha of the Gombe State High Court for impersonating EFCC officials. The accused allegedly forged official documents to defraud unsuspecting Nigerians.
The Gombe Zonal Directorate of the EFCC charged the defendants with nine counts of forgery, aiding the commission of a crime, and impersonation.
According to one of the charges, the defendants forged various EFCC documents, including a Letter of Authority and Investigation Approval letters, bearing false signatures to present Solomon Yohanna as an EFCC staff member.
These fraudulent documents were allegedly used to claim that Yohanna was sent by the Commission to audit and supervise projects in Guyuk Local Government, Adamawa State.
The alleged offences occurred between 2023 and 2024.
At the arraignment on October 15, 2024, Yohanna pleaded guilty to the charges, while the other three defendants—Naphtali, Mohammed, and Abubakar—pleaded not guilty. Following Yohanna’s guilty plea, EFCC prosecution counsel Saad H. Saad requested permission to present witnesses to review the facts of the case. However, defense counsel C. Karamuel indicated that he was not prepared to take on witnesses at that time.
Justice Isha granted bail to the second, third, and fourth defendants, setting the bail amount at N5 million each, with a surety of the same value. The sureties must be residents of Yola and family men, and they are required to deposit their identity cards and sign bail bonds.
Meanwhile, Yohanna was remanded at the Yola Correctional Centre, and the case was adjourned to November 15, 2024, for trial and a review of the facts.