RismadarVoice Reporters
February 27, 2026
The Lagos Zonal Directorate 2 of the Economic and Financial Crimes Commission (EFCC), Ikoyi, on Friday, February 27, 2026, presented its first prosecution witness in the ongoing trial of Titilayo Funmilayo Eboh over an alleged ₦247.5 million fraud.
Eboh is standing trial alongside Uchenna Ejindu and Salami Eneojo Stephen on an amended four-count charge bordering on conspiracy, obtaining by false pretence, money laundering, and stealing.
The defendants were arraigned on January 30, 2026, for allegedly conspiring to defraud Mr. Jude Nyemike Atoh of ₦247,500,000 under the pretence of providing its dollar equivalent — a representation the prosecution said they knew to be false.
One of the counts alleges that the defendants, sometime in July 2024 in Lagos, conspired to defraud the complainant contrary to Section 8 of the Advance Fee Fraud and Other Related Offences Act, No. 14, 2006.
Another count states that Musa Abdulhamid (trading as Rizqan Dayyiban Global Concept), Salami Eneojo Stephen, and Titilayo Funmilayo Eboh allegedly collaborated to conceal the sum of $160,300 belonging to the complainant, with the aim of disguising its alleged illegal origin by giving and receiving the funds in cash.
The first, second, and third defendants pleaded not guilty to counts one, two, and three, while the second and third defendants also pleaded not guilty to count four.
Testifying before the court as the first prosecution witness (PW1), Dr. Ifeoma Atoh, a consultant paediatrician and wife of the complainant, told the court that she was introduced to the first defendant as a Bureau de Change operator.
Led in evidence by prosecution counsel, T.J. Banjo, she stated that on July 12, 2024, she transferred ₦247.5 million in two tranches — ₦150 million and ₦97.5 million — into the first defendant’s account to secure dollars for her husband’s urgent overseas medical treatment.
According to her, the dollar equivalent was never delivered.
She further told the court that her husband had been critically ill and required surgery abroad after spending months in intensive care.
“I want the court to compel them to return the money so my husband can travel for treatment. I do not want to become a widow,” she said.
The prosecution tendered payment receipts and a petition submitted to the EFCC as evidence. The court admitted the documents as exhibits.
Under cross-examination by counsel to the first defendant, Victor Okpara, SAN, the witness confirmed that she adopted the petition earlier written by her husband to the EFCC.
Earlier in the proceedings, the trial judge granted bail to the third defendant in the sum of ₦50 million with two sureties and ordered that a lien be placed on the sureties’ assets. The sureties are also required to provide evidence of tax payment for the last three years.
The court further directed the third defendant to file an undertaking not to travel outside Nigeria without notifying both the court and the prosecution, which would in turn inform the Nigeria Immigration Service.
While noting that bail is a constitutional right, the judge held that the defendant had failed to establish that her health condition could not be managed in a correctional facility.
Counsel to Eboh, Solomon Umonnan, SAN, subsequently applied for a variation of the bail terms, seeking the inclusion of a bank or insurance bond as guarantee and requesting interim release of the defendant to a lawyer pending perfection of bail.
The prosecution opposed the application, citing previous challenges in effecting the defendant’s arrest and the existence of another pending criminal charge before Justice Dada scheduled for March 3, 2026.
The court ruled that any application for variation of bail must be made formally and declined the request for interim release.
The matter was adjourned to March 13, 2026, at 12:00 p.m. for continuation of cross-examination.
