RismadarVoice Reporters, April 23, 2026
The Enugu Zonal Directorate of the Economic and Financial Crimes Commission (EFCC) has arraigned two suspects, Samuel Inalegwu Okpala and Ezelibe Emmanuel Nzube, before the Federal High Court sitting in Awka, Anambra State, over alleged investment fraud and cybercrime.
The defendants were arraigned before Justice Bala Khalifa-Mohammed Usman on a four-count charge bordering on conspiracy, fraudulent impersonation, and obtaining by false pretence to the tune of N8.9 million.
One of the charges alleged that Samuel Okpala, sometime in 2025 in Onitsha, induced one Clara Uwakonye to part with the sum of N5.5 million under the guise of investment returns, a claim he knew to be false, contrary to provisions of the Advance Fee Fraud and Other Fraud Related Offences Act.
Another count accused Ezelibe Nzube of impersonating an individual identified as Michael Michael through a fake Facebook account created on a Samsung A05 mobile phone, with the intent to defraud a foreign victim, an offence under the Cybercrime (Prohibition, Prevention, etc.) (Amendment) Act, 2024.
Both defendants pleaded not guilty when the charges were read to them in court.
Following their pleas, EFCC counsel, Assistant Superintendent Somtochukwu C. Anyanwu, requested a trial date and urged the court to remand the defendants in the custody of the Nigerian Correctional Service, Awka.
Justice Usman subsequently adjourned the matter to April 29, 2026, for the hearing of the bail application and ordered that the defendants be remanded in correctional custody.
According to the EFCC, Okpala allegedly defrauded unsuspecting victims through a fake investment scheme, after which he became unreachable. Nzube was said to have conspired in the scheme by engaging in identity theft and creating fictitious social media accounts to facilitate the fraud.
