RismadarVoice Reporters
August 4, 2026
The Lagos State High Court sitting in Ikeja has convicted and sentenced a 55-year-old man, John Nwawuto Anoruo, for impersonating a legal practitioner and using a forged Nigerian Bar Association (NBA) seal.
Justice A.M. Lawal delivered the judgment on Tuesday after Anoruo pleaded guilty to a two-count charge filed by the Lagos Zonal Directorate 2 of the Economic and Financial Crimes Commission (EFCC).
The convict, who operates a legal and educational consultancy in Ikorodu, was arrested on April 20, 2026, following investigations into allegations that he falsely presented himself as a lawyer and used a counterfeit NBA seal in official documents submitted to the EFCC.
According to the Commission, Anoruo had petitioned the EFCC on behalf of clients against the management of Global West Vessel Specialist Nigeria Limited. Investigations later revealed that the petition, as well as a subsequent withdrawal letter, bore a forged NBA seal carrying the Supreme Court enrolment number of another legal practitioner.
The EFCC told the court that although the defendant claimed to have obtained a law degree from the University of Nigeria, Nsukka, in 2018 through evening classes, he never attended the Nigerian Law School and was never called to the Nigerian Bar.
An investigating officer, Umar Faruk Ahmad, testified that the defendant admitted obtaining the counterfeit NBA seal from a business centre in Lagos. He further revealed that Anoruo earned ₦7.5 million from the legal brief, paying ₦1.5 million to a qualified lawyer to handle the matter on his behalf.
The witness also informed the court that the defendant arrived at the EFCC office dressed in a lawyer’s attire during interrogation, while a search of his residence led to the recovery of the forged NBA seal bearing another lawyer’s Supreme Court enrolment number.
The prosecution tendered several exhibits, including the petition, the defendant’s confessional statement, correspondence between the EFCC, the Body of Benchers and the Supreme Court confirming that Anoruo was not a legal practitioner, the lawyer’s attire, the forged NBA seal, and evidence of a ₦300,000 payment into the EFCC recovery account. The defence did not object to the admissibility of the exhibits.
In his allocutus, Anoruo pleaded for leniency, stating that he paid ₦2.5 million to the person who introduced the legal brief and another ₦1.5 million to the lawyer who handled the matter.
Justice Lawal convicted the defendant on both counts and imposed a fine of ₦120,000 on the first count and ₦150,000 on the second, bringing the total fine to ₦270,000.
The court also ordered the forfeiture of the counterfeit NBA seal and the legal practitioner’s attire recovered from the defendant to the Federal Government through the EFCC.
