RismadarVoice Reporters
January 20, 2026
The Economic and Financial Crimes Commission (EFCC) on Tuesday, January 20, 2026, arraigned a businessman, Wilson Opuwei, alongside his company, Dateline Energy Services Ltd., before Justice Olubunmi Abike-Fadipe of the Special Offences Court sitting in Ikeja, Lagos, over an alleged $550,000 fraud.
Opuwei and his company were docked on a four-count charge, bordering on obtaining by false pretences, stealing.
According to the EFCC, the defendants allegedly obtained the sum of $550,000 sometime in April 2011 from a businessman, Prince Donatus Okonkwo, under the false pretence that the money was payment for the allocation of 5,000 metric tonnes of Dual Purpose Kerosene (DPK) from the Pipeline and Products Marketing Company (PPMC), a claim the prosecution said was false and known to be so by the defendants.
One of the charges stated that the defendants obtained $500,000 through one Chimaobi Anyast, while another alleged the receipt of an additional $50,000, both under the same representation.
The prosecution team, led by Nwandu Ukoha, holding brief for Fadeke Giwa, told the court that the defendants had earlier been arraigned on May 23, 2011, before Justice Habeeb Abiru of the Lagos State High Court.
However, the case was later transferred to Justice Abike-Fadipe for trial to commence de novo.
Ukoha further informed the court that although the prosecution closed its case in 2015, the defence failed to open its case, resulting in the matter starting afresh.
He added that the prolonged delay in the case was due to the elevation of successive judges and what he described as deliberate delays by the defence.
The case had previously been handled by Justice Abiru, who was elevated to the Court of Appeal in 2012, and later by Justice Onigbanjo and Justice Lawal Akapo, both of whom were also elevated to the Court of Appeal, before being reassigned to Justice Abike-Fadipe.
The defendants pleaded not guilty to all the charges when they were read in court.
Counsel to the defence reminded the court that Opuwei had been granted bail on May 22, 2012, by Justice Abiru, and urged the court to allow the defendant to continue on the same bail conditions.
In his ruling, Justice Abike-Fadipe ordered that the defendant should continue on the earlier bail conditions, adjourned the case to March 19, 30, and 31, as well as April 1 and 2, 2026, for trial.
